Brightline West high-speed rail construction expected to start soon, but work can still be scratched

Written by RT&S Staff
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Brightline West continues to make progress with its Las Vegas-to-Los Angeles high-speed route.
Brightline

The high-speed line that will run from Las Vegas to southern California is coming to life these days. Brightline has released a construction schedule for the service, which will be called Brightline West.

After a bond sale is complete that will help pay for the initial phase, construction is expected to begin in 2020 and will be complete in 2024.

Construction of the line in Nevada will be broken down into three segments. Work on the first segment will begin before 2021 and will include 21 miles of track that crosses the state line into Nevada in the median of I-15 before moving to the east of I-15. Bridges will be built over Primm Blvd. and Goodsprings Road. The second phase will consist of a 6-mile section that will sit in the median between I-15 northbound and southbound and will be a dedicated and protected corridor to St. Rose Parkway. Construction is set to begin the second quarter of 2021. The third and final portion, which is set to begin in the middle of the second quarter of 2021, will be a 7-mile line that will run east of I-15 near Sloan, Nev., to the Las Vegas station on Las Vegas Blvd. The highlight of the final phase will be the construction of a structure that will allow the track to shift from the median to the east side of I-15.

In California, work also is set in three phases and will run the median of I-15. The sections are much larger than the Nevada ones, with the first one, a 39-mile route from Victorville Station to just south of Barstow, Calif., scheduled to begin before 2020 is over. A 45-mile portion from outside of Barstow to Baker, Calif., and a 51-mile section from near Baker to the Nevada state line will come to life in the second quarter of 2021.

Construction on a line that will take passengers into the city of Los Angeles will begin the third quarter of 2021.

Work all hinges on the bond sale. If the $3.2 billion action does not happen by Dec. 1, California will put its allotted amount of the project back into the state’s affordable housing fund. The total cost of the project will be $8 billion.

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