Brightline West’s private activity bond sale far exceeded expectations, signaling investor confidence in the Las Vegas-to-Southern California high-speed rail project.
With plans for the start of heavy construction on the more than $12 billion project later this year, Brightline West is getting financing in place to build the 218-mile, high-speed rail line, associated stations and maintenance facilities.
The first step was Brightline selling a combined $2.5 billion private activity bonds from California and Nevada. Put out to the market last month, the offering saw greater demand than initially expected, because of favorable bond rates for investors, according to Nevada Department of Transportation Director Tracy Larkin Thomason.
“That bond sale was actually oversold by about a billion dollars,” Larkin Thomason said during last week’s NDOT board meeting.
Brightline West previously received a $3 billion grant for the project from the Federal Railroad Administration, has an additional $3 billion in private activity bonding authority from the U.S. Department of Transportation and is in the process of lining up $6 billion in construction loans to be taken out from multiple financial institutions.
“They’re working with a lot of different banks,” Larkin Thomason said. “So we are over our $12 billion mark. It’s very positive and I have to admit a little sigh (of relief). Feeling much more comfortable overall.”
Nevada’s portion of the rail line is 34 miles, stretching from the California-Nevada state line to the planned Las Vegas station, which is to be constructed on land located on Las Vegas Boulevard, between Blue Diamond and Warm Springs roads.
The rail line will be built in Interstate 15 right-of-way, with barriers separating it from the highway and will feature no at-grade crossings.
A maintenance facility is planned to be built off I-15 in Sloan, located just south of the Las Vegas Valley.
The high-speed rail line will connect from the Las Vegas station to a planned station in Rancho Cucamonga, California, 40 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. From there riders can transfer to and from downtown LA and other stops in between, via Metrolink’s existing Southern California passenger rail service. Brightline also has plans for Southern California passenger stations in Hesperia and Apple Valley.
The projected cost of a standard class, one-way ticket on the rail line is expected to cost $119, with a trip between Southern Nevada and Southern California expected to take about two hours.
The successful bond sale comes on the heels of newly appointed Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy last month praising the project, while slamming the California Central Valley high-speed rail project, calling Brightline West a project “taxpayers are willing to invest in.”
Larkin Thomason highlighted those sentiments, noting that the project is not one that the federal government is looking to axe, as there had been some uncertainty about how the project would fare after President Donald Trump took office in January.
“We also know that it is a very favorable project in Washington D.C.,” Larkin Thomason said.
Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.
