Brightline West

Alignment

Brightline West would run 218 miles between Las Vegas and Southern California, mostly in the median of Interstate 15, with all-electric trains reaching up to 200 mph and a Las Vegas–Rancho Cucamonga trip time of about two hours. The northern terminus, Las Vegas, is a flagship station off I-15 just south of the I-215 interchange. The line follows I-15 south-west across the Mojave Desert, crossing into California at Primm, to stations at Victor Valley (Apple Valley) and Hesperia. It then descends through the Cajon Pass to Rancho Cucamonga, where riders can transfer to Metrolink’s San Bernardino Line for downtown Los Angeles. Most of the route is in California.

The developer is DesertXpress Enterprises LLC, doing business as Brightline West and owned by Fortress Investment Group, which also controls Brightline in Florida. The financing plan combines a $3 billion federal grant awarded through the Nevada Department of Transportation, $2.5 billion of tax-exempt private activity bonds, a $6 billion federal Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF) loan that is still pending, and private equity. Siemens Mobility is building the trainsets.

Updates

2026-11 — Bondholders extend deadlines to January 2027

Brightline West missed a November 2 mandatory tender on about $2.5 billion of unrated bonds. A majority of holders agreed to push both the tender and the deadline to raise $400 million in equity to January 12, 2027, the sixth such extension. The company agreed to cap spending at just under $43 million for the rest of 2026, and the bond trustee appointed a restructuring firm as cash manager. The $6 billion RRIF loan was still in federal due diligence.

2026-10 — Work largely stalled while the loan is pending

The only significant work in Las Vegas is a partially completed parking garage at the station site, and the Federal Railroad Administration is still assessing the company’s creditworthiness for the loan. The opening target has slipped from the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics to late 2029 or later, and a spokesman said the line would open in “approximately four years.” President Sarah Watterson stepped down in August.

2026-09 — Equity deadline moved to November; sister company in bankruptcy

After missing a March 31 commitment, Brightline West had until November 2 to put in $400 million of equity, and it hoped to receive the RRIF loan by late October. Its estimated cost had risen to about $21 billion. Brightline Florida, also owned by Fortress, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on September 24.

2026-03 — Still waiting on the federal loan

The company said it was still waiting on the $6 billion federal loan and was also pursuing a $4 billion loan from a bank consortium. Surveying was complete along the whole route and a parking garage at the Las Vegas station site was nearly finished, but construction of the station itself had not started. Service was then expected to begin in late 2029.

2025-11 — Debt swap avoids a forced bond redemption

Ahead of a mandatory call on its $2.5 billion of senior bonds, Brightline West agreed with a majority of holders to exchange $1.8 billion of bonds and repurchase about $700 million at 101. It committed to raise at least $400 million in equity by March 31, 2026. In October it had applied for the $6 billion RRIF loan to replace a planned $6 billion bank facility. The project’s price tag was put at $21.5 billion.

2025-02 — $2.5 billion of private activity bonds sold

Brightline West sold $2.5 billion of tax-exempt private activity bonds. Under their terms, the company had 180 days, plus an extension, to secure the rest of its financing or face mandatory redemption. The same month, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy praised the “impressive work of Brightline West” while ordering a review of California’s high-speed rail project, which later lost its federal grants.

2024-09 — $3 billion federal grant agreement signed

The Federal Railroad Administration signed a $3 billion Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail grant agreement for the project, with the Nevada Department of Transportation as recipient. The grant had been awarded in December 2023, and the project broke ground in Las Vegas in April 2024 with a 2028 opening target. At the time the cost was put at about $12 billion.