A bond offering to help fund the proposed $5 billion high speed rail project between Las Vegas and Los Angeles has been delayed. The delay won’t stop the project from going forward, however, says the developer.
The joint venture between Nevada and California is called Brightline West. Brightline currently offers high speed rail service in South Florida, and seeks to duplicate that success in California.
Previously California treasury officials approved a $600 million private activity bond allocation which aimed to raise $2.4 billion for the project.
The Nevada State Board of Finance concurrently approved $200 million for the project, contingent on the California bonds going forward before the end of the year.
The delay in the bond offering is caused by “economic uncertainty” according to California Treasurer Fiona Ma, a big supporter of the rail project. She added, “Unfortunately, there is not a lot of liquidity in the market. The project is postponed until market liquidity improves.”
Brightline calls the delay, “a minor setback,” and reiterated that it plans to break ground “as soon as possible.” It added, “The only thing that was postponed was the bond financing.”
A Brightline representative added, “We have always said we will fund this project with a combination of equity and debt — exactly as we have in Florida. That continues to be our plan.”
The first leg of the train route is planned to go from Las Vegas to Victorville in San Bernardino County. Another $3 billion would extend that to Union Station in Los Angeles.
Brightline originally partnered with Virgin to brand the train as a Virgin Trains USA, but Virgin is no longer a partner.
The electric trains, which would run every 45 minutes, would travel up to 200 mph, for a 90 minute trip from Victorville to Las Vegas.
