Brightline West
The proposed high speed rail operation between Southern California and Las Vegas has been rebranded as Brightline West and has launched a website with details on construction of the project, along with a virtual public meeting for information and comments.
The site reports construction will be broken into six segments, three in California and three in Nevada. In California, the 39-mile southern section, which works east from the planned Southern California station, will begin in the fourth quarter of 2020; this section will include most of the right-of-way not within the median of Interstate 15. The middle and north sections, 45 and 51 miles, respectively, will begin construction in the second quarter of 2021.
In Nevada, the 21-mile south section, reaching the California state line, will also begin in the fourth quarter of 2020; the 6-mile middle segment and 7-mile north segment into Las Vegas will begin in the second quarter of 2021.
The website says the project will create more than 40,000 construction jobs and more than 1,000 permanent jobs, with an economic income of $9 billion. It will generate $1 billion in tax revenue.
The website notes the schedule is subject to change, and the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports the schedule is dependent on selling bonds in California by Dec. 1. The size of the bond offering was recently cut from $3.2 billion to $2.4 billion [see “Digest: Safety Commission says evidence …,” Trains News Wire, Oct. 21, 2020].
