Brightline West / XpressWest / DesertXpress) Las Vegas - Victorville - Rancho Cucamanga - Los Angele

Wildlife crossings and general updates: https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/tra ... 5-2729698/

One wonders the effect of larger animals being struck at such a high speed.

The planned crossings will provide a safe path for wildlife, like bighorn sheep, over the existing northbound and southbound I-15 lanes and the future high-speed rail system slated to be built within the median.

The wildlife department identified three priority locations for the wildlife crossings, all located in San Bernardino County.

Bridges are planned to be constructed near Zzyzx Road, Mountain Pass and Rasor Road. They will span the entire width of I-15, including the Brightline West rail line.

Jeff Smith wrote: ↑Thu Feb 16, 2023 6:23 am One wonders the effect of larger animals being struck at such a high speed.

In the mid 1980's I was on the Capitol Limited westbound somewhere between Cumberland and Pittsburg when the we hit a deer. The train had to stop in the middle of nowhere to clear the windshield because the deer body landed on top of the nose of the F40PH. I only know that we stopped and why because my father and I were up in the dome car with the conductor when this happened.

PR Machine ramping up?

Stories are coming out saying construction will start "later this year" and not much other info.
https://www.yahoo.com/autos/constructio ... 00623.html

Judging from the comments of that article, their PR machine has a lot of work to do.

https://www.vvdailypress.com/story/news ... 001693007/

Brightline, Caltrans to sign pact for Apple Valley to Rancho Cucamonga rail line

The California Department of Transportation and Brightline West plan to enter a right-of-way use agreement for a portion of the high-speed rail project along Interstate 15 between Apple Valley and Rancho Cucamonga via the Cajon Pass.

The agreement is designed to advance the development of the privately owned and operated electrified rail project that will connect Las Vegas to Southern California.

The issuance of a notice of intent on Friday kicked off a 15-day public comment period for the proposed lease agreement between Caltrans and Brightline West.

Both entities previously executed a similar agreement to use a portion of the I-15 right of way between Apple Valley and the California/Nevada border.
...

New Brightline West renderings just dropped::

https://apnews.com/article/bullet-train ... 304cb4fe20

Las Vegas-to-California bullet train gets bipartisan backing

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A bipartisan congressional group from Nevada and California asked the Biden administration Monday to fast-track federal funds for a private company to build a high-speed rail line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area.

All six of Nevada’s elected federal lawmakers and four House members from California sent the letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. They said they’re on board with a proposal from Brightline West to spend more than $10 billion to lay tracks along the Interstate 15 corridor.

Traffic jams on the interstate often stretch for 15 miles (24 kilometers) near the Nevada-California line as motorists head home after weekend or holiday travel to Las Vegas.

The Mojave Desert is largely open space, and the electric-powered trains could potentially cut the four-hour trip in half, carrying passengers at speeds of nearly 200 mph (322 kph).
...

https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsma ... c79d37630b

‘The Greenest Bullet Train In The World’: Wes Edens Wants To Kickstart U.S. High-Speed Rail With A Vegas-L.A. Line

The billionaire investor and sports team owner wants to get you from Los Angeles to Vegas in about two hours. And he’s building a $12 billion, 186 MPH train line powered by renewable energy to do it.

Will be interesting to see this take place. It will be the first true high-speed rail in the United States - even Acella can't hit it's 150mph peak on most of the NEC, whereas this will be going to 200mph the whole route

JohnFromJersey wrote: ↑Tue Apr 25, 2023 2:41 pm Will be interesting to see this take place. It will be the first true high-speed rail in the United States - even Acella can't hit it's 150mph peak on most of the NEC, whereas this will be going to 200mph the whole route

Huh? Even the article says 186, and there's no way it can sustain that on the whole route since it has curves.

Also they've already spent $600M without a single shovel in the ground and they think the whole thing can be built in 12B? And how are grades on I-15?

lensovet wrote: ↑Tue Apr 25, 2023 11:16 pm

JohnFromJersey wrote: ↑Tue Apr 25, 2023 2:41 pm Will be interesting to see this take place. It will be the first true high-speed rail in the United States - even Acella can't hit it's 150mph peak on most of the NEC, whereas this will be going to 200mph the whole route

Huh? Even the article says 186, and there's no way it can sustain that on the whole route since it has curves.

And there are some mountains to get over, too. Nevertheless, the average speed will be significantly higher than Acela's average speed.

https://www.railwayage.com/passenger/tr ... t-council/

According to the article in Railway Age, Nevada DOT submitted a Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail Grant application for $3.75 billion. There's only one problem... this Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail funding round only includes $4.566 billion.

As worthy as this project appears, there is zero chance that the FRA is going to allocate 82% of the available grant money to this project. Simple put, they shouldn't have tried to take such a big bite of the apple.

lensovet wrote: ↑Tue Apr 25, 2023 11:16 pm Huh? Even the article says 186, and there's no way it can sustain that on the whole route since it has curves.

Meant to say "whereas this will be going *close* to 200mph the whole route."

Per Wikipedia, average speed of Acela is 70MPH, top speed of 150MPH which it does not do on most of its journey iirc.

Whereas, also Per Wikipedia, Brightline West will do an average of 110MPH with a top speed of 186MPH. Significantly faster.

Train60 wrote: ↑Wed Apr 26, 2023 10:40 am https://www.railwayage.com/passenger/tr ... t-council/

According to the article in Railway Age, Nevada DOT submitted a Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail Grant application for $3.75 billion. There's only one problem... this Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail funding round only includes $4.566 billion.

As worthy as this project appears, there is zero chance that the FRA is going to allocate 82% of the available grant money to this project. Simple put, they shouldn't have tried to take such a big bite of the apple.

I assume that Brightline will be banking a lot on its Florida service doing well, to use as an example of how this project can be successful to potential investors. I cannot find the link, but there were some billionaire sports moguls who were interested in this project, who could potentially be financial backers as well.