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Southern California to Las Vegas High-Speed Rail Line To Begin Groundbreaking This Year
California GlobeSix months after being halted due to bond sale issues, Brightline West announced earlier this month that construction of the Las Vegas-Apple Valley high speed train is now scheduled to begin in the second quarter later this year.
For several years, the Florida-based Brightline has been planning a Las Vegas to Southern California high-speed route, with many issues, such as where the California end terminus should go, being resolved in time. However, financing has remained a big hurdle. Last year, the state of California approved $600 million worth of bond allocations, paving the way for Brightline West, then paired with Virgin Trains USA, to build soon. However, according to Brightline, “election uncertainty, the lack of approval of a Covid-19 vaccine, and lack of liquidity in the market did not allow [Brightline West] to price the bonds to provide long-term stability for the company.”
With no buyers for the bonds, state treasurer Fiona Ma took back the allocation bonds in November and Virgin dropped out of the project, stopping the project indefinitely.
However, since then, Brightline West has revised their financial plan. In a January letter to the Nevada High-Speed Rail Authority, Brightline revealed that additional equity will be pumped in and a bond sale redo would take place this year. In California, many local issues were taken care of in the meantime as well, including more construction agreements, environmental permitting, design development, and working on routes from Apple Valley to the Los Angeles basin.
For several years, the Florida-based Brightline has been planning a Las Vegas to Southern California high-speed route, with many issues, such as where the California end terminus should go, being resolved in time. However, financing has remained a big hurdle. Last year, the state of California approved $600 million worth of bond allocations, paving the way for Brightline West, then paired with Virgin Trains USA, to build soon. However, according to Brightline, “election uncertainty, the lack of approval of a Covid-19 vaccine, and lack of liquidity in the market did not allow [Brightline West] to price the bonds to provide long-term stability for the company.”
With no buyers for the bonds, state treasurer Fiona Ma took back the allocation bonds in November and Virgin dropped out of the project, stopping the project indefinitely.
However, since then, Brightline West has revised their financial plan. In a January letter to the Nevada High-Speed Rail Authority, Brightline revealed that additional equity will be pumped in and a bond sale redo would take place this year. In California, many local issues were taken care of in the meantime as well, including more construction agreements, environmental permitting, design development, and working on routes from Apple Valley to the Los Angeles basin.
9 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
Goes to show what can happen when you don't have kleptocrats in power.
