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[KevinKorell]

Las Vegas Xpress Inc., the company that is developing passenger rail service from Southern California to Las Vegas and the operator of X Wine Railroad, selected First Transit Group to operate the X Train — the first luxury train to connect Southern California to Las Vegas in over 20 years.

First Group operates globally, with the largest footprint in UK and North America. The company has five rail and bus divisions including Greyhound Lines, the largest motorcoach service in the U.S. and Canada, which became a subsidiary in 2007. 

“As one of the largest private sector operators in the U.S., we believe First Transit is in the best position to deliver the most innovative and efficient solutions to make the X Train a passenger rail service experience like none other in the country,” said Michael Barron, chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Xpress. “Our plan is to begin operations of the X Train in mid-year 2019.”

Keywords

First Transit   high-speed rail   Las Vegas   Las Vegas Xpress Inc.   Michael Barron   passenger rail   

 

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[KevinKorell]

Las Vegas, NV Review-Journal, 8/15/19:

 

 

 

Amtrak, Las Vegas Xpress in talks over planned luxury rail project

 

 

Las Vegas Xpress Inc., the company behind what previously was called X-Train, has been in talks with Amtrak about a possible collaboration on the long-planned train project, both parties confirmed.

 

Story

[CNJRoss]

Los Angeles Times 3/25/20
 

Las Vegas high-speed train project, once stuck in low gear, is now moving forward

 

 

The last time a California railroad conductor hailed “all aboard for Las Vegas” was more than 20 years ago, after lines such as the Desert Wind, the Crapshooters Express and the Fun Train failed to attract riders.

 

Amtrak had tried to jazz up its service, enlisting comedian Milton Berle and basketball great Wilt Chamberlain. New proposals for train service since have come and gone, including one by a Spanish firm that saw a “renaissance in train travel on the horizon.”

 

But in recent weeks, a more concrete proposal by Florida-based XpressWest for Las Vegas train service has quietly advanced. The privately-held firm has taken key steps to secure private debt funding under bond programs operated by California, Nevada and the federal government.

 

If the chips fall the right way, the $4.8-billion project should have full funding for a 170-mile line along Interstate 15 and start construction later this year with trains running by 2023, the company told The Times.

 

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[KevinKorell]

 

  XpressWest advances Las Vegas high-speed rail plan   

 

 

XpressWest last month took steps to secure private debt funding for its $4.8 billion plan to build a 170-mile high-speed, electric rail line from Southern California to Las Vegas, the Los Angeles Times reported.

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[KevinKorell]

Progressive Railroading, 4/15/20:

 

    California panel OKs tax-exempt bonds for XpressWest high-speed rail project   

 

 

 

The California Debt Limit Allocation Committee yesterday approved $600 million in tax-exempt bonds for Brightline/Virgin Trains USA's XpressWest, a proposed high-speed rail route between Las Vegas and Southern California.

 

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[CNJRoss]

Railway Age 4/15/20
 

Report: Calif. OKs $600MM for Virgin Trains High-Speed Project

 

 

According to a report in the Review Journal, a California finance committee unanimously approved the allocation of $600 million in tax-exempt bonds to go toward the Virgin Trains USA high-speed rail project between Las Vegas and Southern California.

 

The California Debt Limit Allocation Committee approved the bonds to go toward what’s formally known as XpressWest, the $4.8 billion rail project that would run from Victorville, Calif., to Las Vegas, according to the report.

 

Internal Revenue Service guidelines allow Virgin to market up to four times the amount of the $600 million in bonding authority, for a total of $2.4 billion in tax-free, private equity bonds.

 

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[CNJRoss]

Progressive Railroading 7/6/20

 

Virgin Trains USA enters right-of-way agreement for Las Vegas-LA high-speed rail

 

Virgin Trains USA last week entered into a lease agreement with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to use existing right of way along Interstate 15 in California for the planned high-speed rail line between Las Vegas and Southern California, a local news outlet recently reported.

 

Caltrans officials told the Daily Press that all public comments received before the agreement was signed supported the project.

 

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[CNJRoss]

Daily Press Victorville, CA 7/1/20
 

Virgin Trains gets go ahead to use I-15 right of way for high-speed rail project

 

 

APPLE VALLEY — Another piece of Virgin Trains USA’s high-speed rail line was secured Tuesday when the company entered into a lease agreement with Caltrans to use existing right of way along Interstate 15 for the $5 billion project.

 

Caltrans entered into the agreement on authority from the California State Transportation Agency, according to a statement. Virgin Trains’ rail line is expected to connect Southern California to Las Vegas via a station in Apple Valley, north of Bell Mountain, the Daily Press previously reported.

 

The company reported that the 170-mile-long trip will be built within the median of the I-15. About 135 miles of the system will be located in California.

 

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[CNJRoss]

Forbes, 9/25/20
 

Rail Startup Brightline Kicks Off $3.2 Billion Bond Sale For LA-To-Vegas High-Speed Train

 

 

Brightline, the only private passenger rail service in the U.S., is moving ahead with an offering of up to $3.2 billion of tax-exempt bonds for a high-speed train line connecting Las Vegas to Southern California. The company also has a new plan to run trains directly into Los Angeles.

 

The tax-exempt debt from Florida-based Brightline Holdings is based on private-activity bond allocations of $2.4 billion from California and $800 million from Nevada to fund construction of the 260-mile line between the West Coast cities. The bonds are unrated and the coupon rate and expected yield won’t be set until marketing starts, the company said. Brightline has an additional $1 billion private activity bond allocation from the U.S. government that isn’t part of this offering.

 

Groundbreaking is set for late this year with a goal to complete construction in three years so that trains can start running by 2024, ...

 

SNIP

Brightline West route from Los Angeles to Las Vegas.

Brightline

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[KevinKorell]

 

 

Groundbreaking is set for late this year with a goal to complete construction in three years so that trains can start running by 2024...

 

The same company that announced its then-upcoming Florida service in 2012 and expected the ENTIRE line Miami to Orlando, to be open by 2014, is now making similar promises out west.  Believe it when you see it.