Brightline West

Brightline West is a privately run high-speed rail line under construction in California and Nevada. When complete, it will link the Las Vegas Valley and Rancho Cucamonga in Greater Los Angeles through the California High Desert via Interstate 15. The line will connect with existing rail at the Rancho Cucamonga station of Metrolink's San Bernardino Line, a commuter rail line in Southern California. The project is intended to provide an alternative to air and automobile travel between Southern California and Las Vegas, a popular leisure destination. In December 2023, the United States Department of Transportation awarded Brightline West a $3 billion grant as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Construction, initially expected to begin shortly after the grant was announced in 2023, began on April 22, 2024. Revenue service is planned to start by late 2029. The line was developed starting in 2005 as DesertXpress and has passed through several developers and investors. In September 2018, the project known as XpressWest, was acquired by Fortress Investment Group, which owns Brightline in Florida, the only privately run inter-city rail route in the United States. An extension of Brightline West from Victor Valley to the California High-Speed Rail station in Palmdale is also under consideration.