Brightline West Victor Valley-to-Rancho Cucamonga Segment

FONSI: LV Review Journal

High-speed rail receives key approval for link into LA

A key approval officially opening up the possibility of a Los Angeles-to-Las Vegas high-speed rail connection occurred this week.

The environmental review and permitting process for the stretch of Brightline West’s planned Victor Valley-to-Rancho Cucamonga, California high-speed rail line was finished Wednesday.

In that, the Federal Railroad Administration found no significant environmental impacts for the planned 49-mile line that would be part of the Las Vegas-to-Southern California high-speed rail project. The track would run within the right of way of Interstate 15.
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A quick question: do we know how the track will get from the existing Metrorail station to the I-15 median? Is there enough room in the vacant lot just east of I-15 (just east of the station) to put in a turn that will also lift up to what I assume is 25' of clearance?

markhb wrote: ↑Sun Jul 16, 2023 4:13 pm A quick question: do we know how the track will get from the existing Metrorail station to the I-15 median? Is there enough room in the vacant lot just east of I-15 (just east of the station) to put in a turn that will also lift up to what I assume is 25' of clearance?

Brightline West tracks will enter this area along the west side of !-15 above grade and turn west to the existing station above grade. It will be 25 feet in the air for several miles, heading north, then fly over the southbound lanes and enter the median of I-15 before returning to freeway grade. There are power lines rgar cross over, and the trains will go under them by that point.
Lucid Stewe made a video of the entire route with commentary , here it is

He starts at the RC end, so he will answer your question early in the long video.

Thanks!

Request for Waiver and FONSI PDF: STB

DESERTXPRESS ENTERPRISES, LLC – AUTHORITY TO CONSTRUCT AND OPERATE – PASSENGER RAIL LINE BETWEEN VICTOR VALLEY, CAL. AND RANCHO CUCAMONGA, CAL.

This letter has reference to the Petition for Exemption filed in the above-captioned proceeding on April 13, 2021 by DesertXpress Enterprises, LLC d/b/a Brightline West ("DXE") seeking an exemption from the prior approval requirements of 49 U.S.C. § 10901 to construct and operate an extended high-speed passenger rail line between Victor Valley and Rancho Cucamonga, CA, a distance of approximately 50 miles (the "VVRC Line"). The VVRC Line
would create a connection between the approximately 170-mile high-speed passenger rail line between Las Vegas, NV and Victorville, CA previously exempted by the Board in DesertXpress Enterprises, LLC and DesertXpress HSR Corp.- Construction and Operation Exemption- In Victorville, Cal. and Las Vegas, Nev. , STB Docket No. 35544 (STB served Oct. 25, 2011) ("2011 Decision") and the commuter rail network operated by Metrolink serving points
throughout Southern California.
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Moreover, regulation of the VVRC Line project is not necessary to protect the public from an abuse of market power. No freight shipper will lose access to an existing rail option as a result of the construction and operation of the VVRC Line.7 Nor will the VVRC Line threaten competitive harm to rail passengers. To the contrary, upon commencement of DXE service, the public will - for the first time - have access to a safe and efficient high-speed rail option for travel between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles metropolitan area. DXE's train service will face competition from multiple airlines that serve the Las Vegas - Southern California travel market, and passengers will continue to have the option to travel by automobile via I-15.
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DXE's objective is to complete construction of the entire line between Las Vegas and Rancho Cucamonga, and to initiate passenger rail service, in time for the 2028 Summer Olympics hosted by the City of Los Angeles. The only remaining Federal regulatory hurdle to commencing construction of the line is Board action on the Petition for Exemption in this proceeding (and on DXE's pending Petition to Reopen in Finance Docket No. 35544). 11 DXE's
request for expedited final decisions on those petitions is supported by key stakeholders in the States of California and Nevada as well as the High-Speed Rail Labor Coalition ( consisting of 13 unions that represent more than 160,000 American rail workers).
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Imagine a public authority saying they plan to construct a 50 mile passenger rail line & get it running within 5 years...

BandA wrote: ↑Mon Jul 24, 2023 11:37 am Imagine a public authority saying they plan to construct a 50 mile passenger rail line & get it running within 5 years...

That doesn't even include the other 170-mile section they intend to have running in that time frame!

Anyone want to take bets that the CHSR folks will cite "reduced availability of construction personnel due to Brightline construction" as a reason for further delays in that project?