Published on: January 19, 2026, at 01:42h.

Updated on: January 19, 2026, at 01:49h.

• The schedule for the Brightline West high-speed rail connecting Las Vegas and Southern California has been shifted from December 2028 to late 2029.
• Currently, the only major construction in progress is at the Las Vegas station and a vehicle maintenance facility located in Sloan, Nevada.
• The project’s expenses have surged almost threefold since its initial announcement, with a critical $6 billion loan still awaiting approval.

The Brightline West train system is designed for speed, but progress on its construction has been sluggish. The recent announcement has shifted the timeline for full passenger service from Las Vegas to Los Angeles to “late 2029,” pushing it back from the previously anticipated December 2028.

In May 2023, Brightline’s CEO Mike Reininger asserted that the system would be functional in time for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. This target was adjusted to December 2028 in bond documents issued early last year and has continued to shift since then.

Slow Progress Ahead

Although the official groundbreaking occurred in April 2024, construction has remained largely in preliminary phases. McCarthy Building Co. is responsible for the construction of a parking garage and site preparations at the planned Las Vegas station, situated on 110 acres near Las Vegas Boulevard and Blue Diamond Road. Meanwhile, another team is working on a vehicle maintenance facility near Sloan, Nevada.

Brightline has indicated that major construction on the rail line itself is not expected to commence until later this year.

The primary challenges faced over the past two years have included rising material costs, labor shortages, and fluctuating funding requirements. The project’s budget has nearly doubled, escalating from $12 billion to $21.5 billion, which is close to tripling its original estimate of $8 billion.

“The overall cost increases in the construction industry have been quite substantial,” Reininger shared in an interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal published last Sunday. “These factors have certainly influenced our overall project budget. Nonetheless, we remain optimistic about our ability to secure the necessary capital, with plans to offset these rising costs significantly through increased equity for the project.”

Brightline has already secured a $3 billion grant from the Federal Railroad Administration and has issued $2.5 billion in private activity bonds from Nevada and California. This past October, the Florida-based company sought an additional $6 billion federal loan through the Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing program overseen by the US Department of Transportation.

The financial stability of Brightline West is significantly dependent on this loan, according to the financial news outlet Bond Buyer. However, as of this writing, it has not yet received approval.

Ambitious Speed and Expectations

Brightline’s proposed service will span 218 miles in the median of Interstate 15, achieving speeds of up to 200 mph, allowing a journey of approximately two hours. The final destination in Southern California will be Rancho Cucamonga, where passengers can connect to Metrolink services for the last 37 miles into downtown Los Angeles, taking around an hour.

This totals about three hours of travel time in either direction, making it competitive with flying once airport wait times are taken into account.

Future plans include additional stations at Hesperia and in the Victor Valley region of California. Brightline West envisions providing 35 daily departures.