Southern California-Las Vegas Train Back on Track After Sale
A plan to build a high-speed train between Southern California and Las Vegas is back on track after a private rail company announced Wednesday it has…
September 20, 2018 at 01:53 PM
2 minute read
A plan to build a high-speed train between Southern California and Las Vegas is back on track after a private rail company announced Wednesday it has taken over the project.
Florida-based Brightline said it has acquired the rights to XpressWest's 185-mile federally approved rail corridor along Interstate 15. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Brightline said it will start construction of the $7 billion line next year. It expects to complete a link between Las Vegas and Victorville, California, by 2022, with plans to eventually extend the line another 80 miles to Los Angeles.
The project stalled several times over the past decade, mostly over financing.
Nevada-based XpressWest's $5.5 billion government loan was put off in 2013, and a Chinese funding partnership fell apart last year.
Brightline cites studies that found travelers make more than 50 million trips between Las Vegas and Southern California every year.
“Today those travelers are limited to traveling by air or car, and Brightline expects to offer a convenient alternative that will make the trip in less than two hours,” the firm said in a statement.
As part of the agreement, Brightline will acquire 38 acres of land adjacent to the Las Vegas strip where it will build a train station along with a mixed-use development, the company said.
It would be only the second privately funded express intercity passenger service in the U.S. Brightline currently runs a Florida rail system serving Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach.
The announcement came the same day that the California High Speed Rail Authority said it would recommend a study of a separate proposed bullet train route that would tunnel under San Fernando Valley neighborhoods in Los Angeles.
More than half of the 38-mile proposed line would be below ground — including through Sylmar, other parts of Pacoima, the Angeles National Forest and the San Gabriel Mountains, the Daily News reported.
The segment, between Palmdale and Burbank, is part of an 800-mile state high-speed rail project connecting San Francisco to Anaheim.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllSouthwest Airlines Faces $100M Class Action Over Pay Periods
Rogge Dunn Represents Florida Trucking Firm in Civil RICO Suit Against Worldwide Express
4 minute readFowler White Burnett Opens Jacksonville Office Focused on Transportation Practice
3 minute read'A Fierce Battle of Expert Witnesses' Expected in Cybersecurity Spat
Trending Stories
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250