Brightline West Explained: Route, Stations & Speed!

In today's video, we highlight some of the key features coming to Brightline West's new service between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Construction recently broke ground and is expected to last until 2028.
More info: www.brightlinewest.com
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[@finned958]

Google Maps says it takes 3:30 hours to drive to Vegas from Rancho Cucamonga, but my experience from driving many years is 4 to 5 hours with 2 potty breaks. I’ve taken as long as 6 hours with stops to go shopping at the outlet stores and get gas and eat lunch. Cutting the commute to 2 hours is a game changer. It will also allow me to leave Las Vegas in the evening to play an extra day instead of leaving early in the morning to avoid the traffic. I never did the congestion crawl that happens on certain Fridays or Sundays.

[@mrxman581]

It takes me less than 4 hours to get to Vegas from Montebello. I leave early Saturday or Sunday morning and return on a weekday before 2pm to avoid rush hour traffic.

[@jobob3797]

I live 20 min away from rancho Cucamonga and I am absolutely thrilled for this train! I've made that stressful drive dozens of times, I even had my car break down in the middle of that desert once, hours from the nearest town. also traffic can easily add 45min or more to that drive. Parking fees in Vegas are a lot too ($25 a day) and the gas prices here, especially in SoCal, are astronomical. Trust me folks here are excited and I am absolutely going to be riding!

[@inthemiddlebdh]

Needing moderators for our brightline group that lives in the station cities Rancho , etc

[@tonywalters7298]

4:33 It is also worth noting that the train gives you to use the restroom or grab refreshments at any point of the journey, whereas, if you are traveling by car you have to pull off the road and stop, and there are very few places to stop in the desert.

[@isaacishere6034]

I’m from Las Vegas and i have family and friends who live in Ontario. Being able to take a high speed train instead of having to drive that route with traffic is going to be so convenient. It’ll be good for my mother as well who is getting older and finding it harder to travel. To send her on her way on board a comfortable high speed train to visit our family would be good for her.

[@johnjones4426]

I hope after this and the Tampa expansion, Brightline starts making a train line between the big cities in central Texas. Call it "Brightline: Lone Star"

[@jaylenjackson2403]

While we do already have Texas Central + Amtrak working on a line from Dallas to Houston, I’d LOVE to see brightline maybe help extend the system in the future like amtrak’s helping currently - because there are many places HSR can be built here! Dallas to Fort Worth, Dallas to Austin and San Antonio via a branch off the original Dallas-Houston line, possibly a connection to Killeen/Fort Cavazos via a branch off of the San Antonio line - and more, all depending on the success of the Dallas to Houston line 🙏🏾

[@commentorsilensor3734]

Another stupid idea. Building expensive rails just connecting three big cities in oil love big state Texas. Don't bring population. In other countries, it is 7 or 8 big cities n couple small towns. Oh, each station is like big hub to transfer buses n local rails. Public transportation in car loving red Texas is joke. The ridership will be low. The government in Texas will take over. I don't know how that will work in conservative Texas state.

[@timeforbeans]

Brightline will be built before CA HSR! I can't wait to ride this to Vegas and back for a weekend get away! The stress of Driving UGH! Get on a train, and relax...Yes please!

[@commentorsilensor3734]

Dumbest idea. HSR is not stupid, but Americans you need car rail is dumbest in HSR history

[@eminenceautumn]

Amazing!

[@Hobbies305]

Seems good and I will say they're planning on doing it right this time it seems in the west coast. I like Brightline but unfortunately the bad publicity in social media has discouraged me from thinking of riding it. I have in the past but this is the thing people have literally killed themselves in intersections because apparently the system we have here has been obsolete for ages now and as far as infrastructure in South Florida we're rather lacking in that department.

[@DroOnTheGO]

Love the Brightline! I always thought the east would have gone through the median.

[@250Rem]

I can’t wait until they come to North Carolina that be very good for the south

[@TheRailwayDrone]

It'll be cool when it's built, although, I'm not exactly sure how it's going to work with only a single-track route. I've driven from LA to Vegas when I was stationed in San Diego and I absolutely hated it. I wish this train existed back then.

[@yappofloyd1905]

There will be passing loops. About 35mi of route will be duplicated. Not ideal for HSR, but fine for an hourly service. They plan to duplicate it later.

[@TheRailwayDrone]

@@yappofloyd1905 What do you mean by duplicated? A little confused on that.

[@mrxman581]

​@@TheRailwayDroneThey probably mean double tracked.

[@Kirkpatrick82]

2 half hour to california near victorvalley

[@rms492]

Great hopefully they can pull it through by 2028

[@PrimeTimeTravelers]

We just did a similar Brightline West video on our channel a few days before yours. Do u plan on going when it opens? We do!!

[@Blank00]

They just selected Siemens

[@weing]

2028? 2035 is more likely. Even a casual look at the topography of that route is telling you its going to hit a 200mph speed in only a few sections of the route.

[@anthonysnyder1152]

The hard part is they are operating in the median of a freeway a majority of the route so you’re kind of stuck with a ROW that’s not forgiving if you need to turn to navigate grade changes or make sharper turns.

[@thastayapongsak4422]

They accounted for the speed already, otherwise they would've said 1 hour journey, not 2.

[@mrxman581]

​@@thastayapongsak4422That's his point. He's saying the trip should take a lot less time than 2:10. It should be closer to 1:30 if you built a straighter route and probably tunnel through the Cajon Pass and double tracked the whole route.

[@mrxman581]

I've made the trip from Montebello (a few miles East of LA) dozens of times and regularly do it in less than 4 hours to my hotel. Once you add the Metrolink ride and transfer times at both ends of the HSR train, you don't save any time. And that's not including the time it would take me to get to the Metrolink station. And I would have to Uber or take public transit which adds even more time. 2:10 HSR 1:15 Metrolink 0:30 transfer at both ends That's 3:55, almost 4 hours and a lot more logistical hassles. And, you still need to add the cost of the ticket. If it's more than $75 one way, it's not going to be popular for most people. I'll definitely take it once to experience it, but not as my goto way to get to Vegas. BLW could fix this disappointing scenario if they double track the entire route and find additional ways to increase the average speeds if they aren't extending it to Union Station. If the route is 218 miles, and the train is capable of 200 mph, it could cut the time by 30 minutes. It shouldn't take more than 1:40 minutes. Now, that would be a game changer and even be worth the additional hassle and cost for people living in the LA area.

[@commentorsilensor3734]

Uber is faster. Public transportation is joke in LA n Vegas. People will 2 or 3 hour Public transportation in LA or Vegas. You have to get cars. If you just gamble, does that make sense to rent a car n drive to hotel n come back. There are many people taking tour buses for gambling. Those people will not take HSR because of the cost n terribke Public transportation. Keep dreaming about feasibility.

[@Waltaere]

Joeel 😃

[@JoelFrancoVlogs]

hello!

[@herbertdaugherty636]

I personally would enjoy a few hours of no driving. It will be interesting to see how the California bureaucracy at all levels impacts the Brightline plan.

[@peterjaniceforan3080]

🚄👍

[@danscheid6031]

we need this but the cost of the ticket that was advertised is way to high and will kill this train

[@commentorsilensor3734]

Even that high cost will not break even on construction n operations cost. Government will take over

[@AL5520]

I'm all for rail and I live in a place where it's the best way to travel in most cases but Brightline is not the way to do it. The trains themselves are good and the service is OK but this is not real public transport as you cannot directly profit from an actual good service. The befits such a service are huge but they are indirect. Brightline Florida is losing tens of millions of dollars and they just cut their expected ridership for 2024. The reason for the investment (that also includes a lot of public funding) is money they make from real estate development but this is a one ti,e thing that will dry out in a few years so they will make their money from that than abandon the rail line (they have no obligations regarding it's operation, as seen during the pandemic when they closed shop for more than 18 months). Brightline West is the same. They go for the minimum investment of a mostly single track in the median of a highway, which is no suited for actual high speed (apart from a few segments). The 2h10 promised duration means an average speed of 100 mi/h and I doubt they'll be able to reach it, just like the Florida line never reached the promised 2h59 and it has the advantage of full double track. A single track means that trains will have to stop at passing loops to wait for the other train which is a recipe for delays. As for the top speed, they will most likely top up at 186 mi/h as the top operation speed. As mentioned this line does not reach LA and, with all due respect to Rancho Cucamonga, most will want to continue into the city and the MetroLink line takes 1h15-1h20 and with the transfer time it will add about 1h30 to the total time. As for the number of passengers. They mention "50 million trips between the region each year", which is probably a bit of a stretch, but only a fraction of it will be able to take the train. Brightline west projects 30,000 daily rides, which is about 11 million a year, but this is not realistic. One train set can of the expected trains can carry about 440 passengers and with one train per hour it's ~15,000 PAX a day (both directions). It can be double if they use 2 sets coupled together that will bring them to the ~30,000 PAX a day but that is only if they'll fill all trains at all hours every day of the year, and they won't.

[@mrxman581]

Very well explained.

[@Ven100]

-Brightline has helped boost support for local public transit. Tri-Rail now connects into Miami Central and has gotten more funding for expanding service. Brightline is in talks with Miami-Dade for the latter to start a commuter service, 'Northeast Corridor', between Brightline Miami Central and Aventura. They're also in talks with SunRail to have a shared corridor to expand further westwards to the Orlando Convention Center and beyond. There's even talks of maybe a commuter service to serve the Brevard County area with their new Cocoa & Stuart stations. -Trains won't have to stop at passing loops with proper scheduling and headways. Unlike the Florida line, they'll have sole use of the Brightline West tracks and there won't be any bridge schedule to adhere to. -The 2H 59 minutes stated to be a non-stop service time which they said there's no point in doing that as of right now. The entire line isn't double tracked either, less you forget about the single-track section along the Cocoa/Orlando line as well as the St Lucie River bridge. -Saying they can't do the proposed 2 hours 10 minutes "because Florida" is silly. If anything, the new statement by Brightline West president Sarah Watterson, states they will do "1 hour 50 minutes" between RC and Vegas which would put the average speed around 119 MPH. -Top speed will likely be 200 MPH in operation as they've selected the Siemens Velaro Novo/American Pioneer 220 EMU to be the preferred rolling stock. Simply stating "Brightline is not the way to do it", when everyone else (states/government) has had decades to do already and come with nothing is an easy cop out. Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. If in 20-30 years when you say the money from real estate development runs out and they sell the line to the states/government, then said states/government will have a rail line that they can operate, much like some of you wanted in the first place.

[@AL5520]

@@Ven100 That's the problem. Instead of investing money in public transport directly they invested it through a private company. As I specifically said, it's good that the service exist but when it's a private company that has no real obligation and can close it tomorrow (like they did for more than 18 months during the pandemic), even though public funds were invested in it, it will cause problems along the way. Tri Rail and SunRail started long before Brightline and they still exist because they provide constant service at all times, including during the pandemic, as real public transport must do. They do it with a very low budget , expansions are small and using Brightline infrastructure (which a lot of it was funded directly and indirectly by the public) will not be free. So what's happening is that instead of directly investing in rail infrastructure they invested it in a private company and now plans to pay them to use this infrastructure. The only reason Brightline exists is that the state state of Florida wanted it this way. The people of Florida voted to invest in actual high speed rail and wanted improvements in public transit but elected governors hated it and worked to cancel it, giving up billions in funds from the federal government just to use public funds so a private company will do it instead. This company has no interest in providing public service, they are in it for the money from real estate investments supported by the local government and once they'll get those benefits they will ditch the rail service. As for the duration of the trip. When Brightline promised 2h59 they did not say it's for "direct" but even if that was the intention where is this direct train? In any case, even if you deduct the station stopping time it's still more than 2h59. As for Brightline West, First of all, if a company promises a certain duration of a journey and does not deliver it is logical to assume that they'll might do the same in the future. This might not be intentional, as things may change when you actually construct the line, especially when you're tied to an existing, far from ideal, route but it's more likely to happen here. Top speeds derives from the ability of the infrastructure to support them and the financial viability to reach them. With Speed above 186 mph the ration between the time saving benefit vs the cost of the extra energy required is high which makes it less likely, especially when the tracks can only support those high speeds in a few short segments (if it will be able to support it at all). That's the reason why most HSR maintain the 386 mph speed even when the infrastructure usually supports speeds of around 220 mph with train sets that support up to around 350mph (like the ETR 1000, AKA Frecciarossa 1000). In most cases higher speeds are used only to catch up with a delay and for that you need more than a few full speed segments. As for the passing loops. You need to be a very experienced rail operator/builder to reach perfect timing while using a single track with passing loops without slowing down or stopping to wait for the other train, and even than you need to build those loops in very specific locations, not just where the median of the road allows it. I doubt Brightline West have the ability to do that, nor the willingness. After all, why should they if you accept the excuses afterhand why bother? Rail as a public service is not profitable. The profits are indirect from the boost it brings to the economy which is why the government should be the one to directly invest in it and subsidize it. Bright line will at one point ditch the service, as happened many times in the past with private ownership of passenger rail. Once this happens the state will either accept it and the service will stop or invest more money, buy it and continue operating it directly, which is they way it should have been from the beginning.

[@Ven100]

@@AL5520 Your entire soapbox can be summarized as "private rail bad, public rail good" - which it's clearly not that simple... There are plenty of private ran rail systems out there using similar models to Brightline like Hong Kong's MTR. Japan Railways is a consortium of private companies. In the case of Florida, it's the government's fault for not following through on building HSR. They had DECADES to do it and the count was at three tries. If anyone needs a history lesson, this is all available with a little Google Search. Don't tell me "Tri-Rail and SunRail started long before Brightline" as if they've been long-standing flourishing systems. Tri-Rail was on life support in 2010/2011. Even now they're still plagued with old equipment, some of which isn't even allowed in downtown Miami because of their emissions. SunRail doesn't even run nights and weekends.. The city of Orlando couldn't even get a penny tax passed in 2022 to bolster the system. So save me the "they came first". Tri-Rail has most definitely benefited from the rail surgency Brightline has brought to the state. Brightline has become a household name and everyone who has used it generally has positive reviews. Saying it's 'ok' when in actuality the level of service is on par/better than some European services is comical. RMTransit said it best, a good rail project raises the tide on other/future rail projects. Orlando will have the penny tax on the ballot again this year, and now with Brightline operating in Orlando I'll be interested to see how it goes vs when Brightline wasn't around in 2022. I'm not interested in hearing again and again, who didn't do what, Rick Scott this or that. The fact remains is they didn't do it and it started long before Rick Scott. All the talk about public HSR sound great but until they actually do it, it's just talk. We are way passed the point of waiting for the government/state to do it on its own. The 2 hour 59 minute Orlando Miami timetable was most definitely stated to be non-stop. A 3 second Google search will tell you this. Also, everyone knows the 3 hour 25 minute timetable not only includes stops but it includes padding. That's why there are many Brightline Orlando/Miami videos on YT that have timed sub 3H 25M journeys between the two cities. Non-stop running at maximum speed allowed in the zones (sans any slow orders), and they definitely could do 2H 59M. The direct train is right where it needs to be, shelved for the time being.. Not only is Brightline already limited with current rolling stock quantity, clearly they've determined that the saving of 25/26 minutes doesn't outweigh the benefits of passengers boarding/alighting at the intermediate stations (Boca not withstanding). It trains were being sold out just for the end-points of Orlando and Miami then they might consider it. As of now, it's not worth it. TGV Duplexes have been running at 320 KMH/200 MPH on certain routes for years and thold are older trainsets. There are several other newer trainsets running at 200 MPH or more. Secondly, how you think Brightline West can build a track for 186 MPH but not 200 MPH is baffling. As far as energy consumption, they're not using old ICE 3s in the hopes of maxing them out at 200 MPH operation speeds. The Siemens Velaro Novo/AP 220 is rated for 220 MPH operation so clearly 200 MPH is well within their reach. Not only that, but them being lighter & more energy efficient than their predecessors lends them being able to handle 200 MPH just fine without taxing the system. As far as the passing loops are concerned, you know there's such a thing as computer modeling right? Also, do you or don't you think there are Siemens engineers who are in/collaborating on the project? Or do you think they're just "here's a train, do what you want with it" without them looking at the scope and offering input? So again, save me your doubts. Brightline West isn't the first to implement single tracked sections of HSR. Look no further than Spain. In an ideal world, we'd have public HSR running throughout the US. That's not the world we live in. Droning on about "private enterprise", while the government sits on its hands is useless. Brightline West's private/public partnership might just be the catalyst needed to get the ball rolling in other areas. Like I said previously, IF they do sell it off to the government years/decades from now, the public will still have a rail service at their disposal right? Better that then it not being built at all (ala the last few decades).

[@AL5520]

@@Ven100 Private companies as fully privatized rail operators/owners is bad as public transport is not profitable (as a whole, you can have very specific lines that are profitable) and requires constant and reliable service on the whole network, even when it's not profitable. Private companies can participate in the transit system but should not own it without any kind of legal commitments, like serving everyone all the time with good frequency and low fares, regardless of profitability. The very few examples people always give are not actually private. HK MTR is a public company, the MTR Corporation, which is owned by the Hong Kong Government, In Japan the JR Group consists of private companies but still has a lot of government ownership and are govern by specific laws with commitments to serve the public. three of the six companies receives government support as they are not profitable. In the UK privatization failed, fares are high and it is now in the process of nationalization. In Europe there are more and more private companies and the Government owned ones also act as private operators. The basic idea is that the infrastructure is owned by the government but now as a separate entity from the operator that allows open access so any company that meats the standards can compete, just like in the airline industry (private carriers that use slots on government infrastructure). In Spain (where I'm from) in the intercity high speed trains (which is the main intercity network and close to covering and connecting all regions) there is renfe, the national operator, OuiGo a local subsidiary of the OuiGo Brand of SNCF - the French national operator, and Iryo, owned by two private Spanish Companies and Trenitalia. A 4th one is on it's way in from one of the biggest bus companies Alsa (they already have a small rail division) and there are others all over Europe. The difference is that the infrastructure is owned by the governments and reaches all the country, the operators must meet certain standards of service and a system to ensure service to less profitable areas. Locally cities and regions are starting to take out tenders for local operators and private companies have replaced the national operators in many regions around Europe, but this is done as a tender by the local government that requires a level of service and fares. The operators are paid by the local government that covers the cost as determined in the tender. I live in Barcelona, the metropolitan area has around 50 different operators for metro/tram/bus/rail/funiculars etc, many are private companies that won local tenders and all work under the same fare system. So there is defiantly a place for private companies in transit, but expecting it to be fully private is a recipe for disaster. You use it now as it's easier than dealing with the real problems that prevent you from having good public transit but I think that it will only cause more damage in the future. I remind you that you used to have privately operated public transit financed by real estate but it collapsed and the only ones remaining are the few that were saved by local governments or the federal government.

[@BaffinSailor]

This makes sense, the one that was planned to go from LA to Fresno was stupid. No one gets off a plane in LAX and says lets go to Fresno ever..

[@michaelsmiley15]

They are behind at least 6 months Briteline has no idea of how bad California is Good luck making that 2028 deadline The services on the current train will probably be changed on briteline west

[@dougbowers4415]

They aren’t behind schedule and they have a good idea how much it will cost, they’re just unwilling to commit to a price at this time.

[@mrxman581]

​@dougbowers4415 They are behind schedule. They were supposed to break ground last year but couldn't get the needed private funding so they had to wait to see if they would get the federal funding. Without the $3 billion in a federal grant and the additional $3.5 billion in private activity bonds from the U.S. Department of Transportation, this project would not be happening. It would have been dead.

[@davezobeljr9025]

400$ a trip. no thanks. 30 years waiting , and counting

[@sullysuckafish]

Love the idea of private companies making high speed rail possible

[@mrxman581]

With billions of dollars from federal tax dollars. It's a public private partnership. Without the $5.5 billion federal funding in grants and bonds, it wouldn't be happening.