Brightline West (XpressWest, DesertXpress) Las Vegas - Victorville - Rancho Cucamanga - LA Proposal

[Pensyfan19]

Brightline just posted a sneak peak as to what Brightline West will be like, as well as good ol' statistics, route descriptions and proposed liveries!

https://www.facebook.com/SupervisorLovi ... kC%2CP-y-R

[mtuandrew]

There’s a lot of info in there! The “Victor Valley” station for instance - I thought it was going to be in Victorville proper, but Brightline shows it being about halfway between Victorville and Barstow. They’ve fully committed to Cajon Pass instead of the Palmdale Cutoff too, which is huge, and are all-in on LA Union Station and a shared station (with Brightline building a fancy section for itself) in the San Bernardino Valley.

I see now that Brightline released this info last month. But, having the visualization helps immensely.

[daybeers]

Here's a report from the San Bernadino County Transportation Authority on the Victor Valley-Rancho Cucamonga (thread title needs to be corrected to 'Cucamonga') segment: https://www.gosbcta.com/wp-content/uplo ... tem-25.pdf I am tremendously excited that this project is moving along, but confused as to why they are going with a Victor Valley station instead of Victorville and really disappointed to see they may put highway express lanes in the ROW. One of the whole points of this project is to bring cars off the road, not add more.

[David Benton]

Isnt it the other way around , theyre putting the railroad in the center of existing highways???

[Arlington]

Isnt it the other way around , theyre putting the railroad in the center of existing highways???

BLW has a lease for the median strip of I-15 in California

In Nevada they run both in the median and alongside.

[Arlington]

As I read it, BLW is promising some "future proofing" of capacity over the Cajon Pass as a way of mollifying the car lobby about taking "their median" that might have otherwise been used for express or managed lanes.

The future proofing is in 2 parts:
1) Dangling the option for a work-commuter oriented station at Hesperia to offset any worries about capacity over the pass. The ultimate park and ride, that would siphon drivers out in Hesperia rather than fight with them for capacity over the Cajon Pass.
2) Reassuring that they're still leaving generally room for 1 Express lane and sometimes +1 Managed Lane along most segments.

As I reckon from LV Strip to Cali:
LV Strip Station to state border (34 miles)
07 Miles on East Side of I-15 until St Rose Parkway (straight North-South)
06 Miles in Median from St. Rose Pkwy through the Seven Magic Mountains area (a curve)
19 Miles on the east side of I-15 (alongside, not between, straight NE-SW) [1]
02 Miles in center median (lining up with Cali at state border)
---- NV - CA Border ---- (Border to VV 135 miles)
51 Miles from State Line to Baker (in median)
45 Miles from Baker to Barstow (in median)
39 Miles from Barstow to Victor Valley (in median)
Victorville Station (Exit 161 Dale Evans Pkwy)
50 Miles from Victor Valley to Rancho Cucamonga [2]
-- 08 miles from VV to downtown Victorville (in median)
-- 02 miles on viaduct through Victorville
-- 10 miles to potential Joshua St Station, Hesperia CA (exit 141) (in median)
-- 04 miles to Cajon Pass (in median) (promise room for 1 express lane too)
-- 13 miles through Cajon Pass (promise room for 1 express lane too)
-- 13 miles Cajon Pass to RC (promise +1 Express Lane to Rt 210 +1 Managed Lane south of 210)
(final 3000' from I-15 to RC Metrolink via 3000' viaduct)
Rancho Cucamonga Metrolink
40 Miles from Rancho Cucamonga to LA Union Station (approx)
LA Union Station



Feel free to fact-check the above.
34 NV miles + 135 CA miles = 169 miles in BLW's map
50 Miles on I-15 between VV and RC implies BLW station at Exit 161 (Apple Valley)

[1] Some say 19 miles 17+2, some say 21 miles 19+2
[2] approx based on I-15 miles

[Arlington]

So how would you diesel / electrify such a route? Would Metrolink electrify to Rancho?

[HenryAlan]

@arlington -- where did you get all that detailed route information?

[Ridgefielder]

So how would you diesel / electrify such a route? Would Metrolink electrify to Rancho?

Not really up to speed on CA right now, but it wouldn't surprise me if Metrolink is getting pushed into electrifying some lines anyway for environmental reasons.

Also-- no reason that the couldn't use a bi-mode for this, with the trains operating in diesel mode LA-Cucamonga, then under the wires the rest the way. I don't know what the speed limit is on the Metrolink (ex-ATSF) line from Rancho Cucamonga to downtown LA but there's no way you're going to be doing more than 79, if that. In other words you wouldn't need a big enough engine to get up to full speed.

[Arlington]

@arlington -- where did you get all that detailed route information?

Sorry, I had 3 sources open and didn't link to any
The sources were, roughly:
1) A LV article on the NV alignment
2) A LA-area article on the Victorville area impacts and nearby desert alignment
3) BLWs presentation to Cajon Pass authorities on how much median would be still available once they'd gone from VV to RC

[Arlington]

Metrolink is definitely planning electrification, but RC seemed a "phase 3" priority (so we'll have to figure how prioritization/persuasion works)

EMUs are definitely the only that I know of to climb Cajon Pass "at speed"-+and the analogy to Paris-Lyon is very apt given that they also have a couple of steep climbs (or was that Paris-Geneva)

[electricron]

Paris elevation 115 feet
Lyon elevation 567 feet
Charix-Lalleyriat (highest point of HSR on route) 1925 feet
Geneva elevation 1421 feet
Los Angeles elevation 282 feet (average)
Cajun Summit (highest elevation of I-15 in California) 4260 feet
Victorville elevation 2950 feet
Las Vegas elevation 2011 feet

Cajon Pass is so much higher in elevation than the route between Lyon and Geneva it is a very unfair comparison.

FYI, for those interested in other exits from Los Angeles, the highest elevation of I-5 in Southern California is 3553 feet at Lebec in Tehachapi Pass.

[Pensyfan19]

Brightline West just launched a new website to describe the specifics about the project. Looks very interesting.

https://brightlinewestconstruction.com/

[Arlington]

Paris elevation 115 feet
Lyon elevation 567 feet
Charix-Lalleyriat (highest point of HSR on route) 1925 feet
Geneva elevation 1421 feet
Los Angeles elevation 282 feet (average)
Cajun Summit (highest elevation of I-15 in California) 4260 feet
Victorville elevation 2950 feet
Las Vegas elevation 2011 feet

Cajon Pass is so much higher in elevation than the route between Lyon and Geneva it is a very unfair comparison.

I suppose grades matter more than height. It was PAR-LYS I was remembering as a place where the TGV climbs "hard enough" that it feels more like an elevator climb (the way you feel it in your stomach (or legs if you're standing)

So that strengthens the case that Cajon pass needs EMUs (and that neither diesels nor dual modes are appropriate) if you want to climb it at speed.

[David Benton]

There's a one in 28 grade on one of the TGV lines. Maintaining speed is not a problem , they actually have to slow trains at the summit , for the danger that they may take off.
There's quite a popular photo of a German ICE track ( I think ) , that would be at least that steep .