In 2023, the Brightline West project seemed a surefire thing. 

The 218-mile-long rail project shuttling passengers between Las Vegas and Los Angeles, with stops in Victorville and Rancho Cucamonga, California, had just gotten a $3 billion loan from President Joe Biden's administration. A groundbreaking was held a few months later, breathing life into the seemingly Sisyphean effort to build a high-speed rail line between the two communities. 

Years later, the project is now delayed, costs are rising and Brightline's parent company is fielding bankruptcy loan bids for a different project as it awaits a crucial step — a $6 billion loan from the Trump administration.

In a statement, Brightline West Director of Public Affairs Antonio Castelan said the project development was advancing with "contract execution" continuing "as planned." Executives from Brightline declined an interview request from The Nevada Independent. 

"The project remains engaged with federal, state and local partners as work continues toward securing federal financing," Castelan said via email. 

Still, costs for the project — as well as the timeline for completion — continue to be extended. 

It was initially set to be operational in time for the 2028 summer Olympics in Los Angeles, but the timeline has been pushed to late 2029. The project also still needs another $15.5 billion to reach its $21 billion fundraising goal. 

History

The dream of building a high-speed train line between Las Vegas and Los Angeles is more than 20 years old. The project started as DesertXPress in 2005, where it stalled despite support from high-profile officials such as Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV). 

In 2005, the project initially cost $5 billion and went through several rounds of funding hardships before Brightline acquired the project in 2019 and created Brightline West, a privately run high-speed rail touting to be America's "first true high-speed passenger rail system." 

It is intended to be zero emissions with the capacity to travel 200 miles per hour, reducing traffic and cutting travel times for the congested Interstate 15. Prices for Brightline West, which would be dynamic, would range between $119 to $133 one way. 

After receiving the initial loan from the Biden's administration in 2023, Brightline broke ground on the project in 2024 and began constructing a station in Las Vegas located on Las Vegas Boulevard and Warm Springs Road. Those federal funds are paid in installments throughout the construction process. 

Though Brightline is a private company, much of the funding for the rail project comes from public sources. Currently, Brightline West has raised about $5.5 billion — $2.5 billion from private activity bonds, which are created by a public municipality or organization, though the proceeds go to a private institution. 

The project initially was estimated to cost $12 billion, though it jumped to $16 billion and then $21 billion by September 2025, according to Build America Bureau, a Department of Transportation branch created under Biden. In 2025, under President Donald Trump's administration, Brightline was asking the bureau for a low, fixed-interest rate on a $6 billion loan. 

Funding and construction challenges 

The loan would bring the project's funding to $11.5 billion, a little more than half of the estimated project cost. The remaining $9.5 billion would come from private investors. 

So far, that loan request, submitted in September, is still pending. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has been supportive of Brightline West in the past, praising it as an example of "projects that I think taxpayers are willing to invest in."

When asked about the timeline of the loan, the Build America Bureau said their process, unlike most Department of Transportation projects, has "no specific application or decision timeline," and that progress on a loan depends on the progress of the applicant's plan. 

Despite funding struggles, there are bright spots for Brightline West, according to Joseph Schwieterman, an urban planning professor at DePaul University in Chicago. 

Schwieterman said the project is placing more emphasis on federal funds over high interest private loans, which can quickly rack up millions of dollars in debt and derail a project.

The company's project in Florida is an example, he said. The rail project that connects South Florida to Orlando is $5.5 billion in the red. 

"The technical feasibility of the project is proven, and a little reason for optimism, but the costs keep creeping up," Schwieterman said. 

Though Schwieterman said private markets appear "bullish" on Brightline West, he said it still appears that the completion of the project relies on additional federal funding. 

"I don't think private capital can do this alone," he said in an interview. "[The] Trump administration's willingness to contribute is probably a prerequisite for the numbers to work." 

As to why the project's cost keeps rising, Schwieterman said it was a "hard question," but pointed to geological challenges between Las Vegas and California, the idea that capital costs increase faster than inflation, additional fees from tariffs and the cost of complying with local laws. 

Brightline West Executive Director Michael Reininger told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that construction costs were rising, hence the continued shifting price tag. In a separate interview, Reininger told Bloomberg that material costs were rising, which also added on to the cost. 

Compared to its Floridian counterpart, Schwieterman said he was hopeful about Brightline West and praised the company's willingness to take a risk on an untested business model to make high-speed rails possible in the United States. 

"I think it's exciting that we have private money flowing into inter-city rail passenger service. … Before Brightline, it was slim pickings," Schwieterman said. 

He also pointed to increased train ridership in the United States as a positive sign for the project.

"The public seems ready to ride trains," he said.