VICTORVILLE, CA. (Pain In The Pass) >> The Surface Transportation Board (STB) has authorized construction and operation of a modified alignment of the high-speed passenger rail project proposed by private-sector firm Brightline West, subject to environmental mitigation measures.
STB Advances $12B Brightline West Project.
On November 15, 2023, DesertXpress Enterprises, LLC, now doing business as Brightline West filed a petition to reopen this proceeding, seeking modification of a 2011 condition concerning the construction of an approximately 190-mile rail line for high-speed passenger rail service between Victorville, California, and Las Vegas, Nevada.
That condition, STB said, authorized construction of a designated alignment, and Brightline West sought authority for modifications to the previously approved alignment. Among the modifications: relocating the rail alignment on certain portions of the Line from the east side of the I-15 freeway to the median; revising the design of the Apple Valley/Victorville station (off of Dale Evans Parkway) to include the passenger boarding and alighting platforms in the median of the I-15 freeway; and raising and moving east a portion of the existing I-15 northbound lanes to provide the necessary footprint and access for these passenger platforms.
“Environmental review of the modified route had been ongoing and was recently completed,” STB reported. “Specifically, the Board’s Office of Environmental Analysis (OEA) has worked with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), the lead agency on the environmental and historic review for this project under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and related environmental laws, including Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). As part of this process, OEA has reviewed a 2020 reevaluation by FRA (FRA 2020 Reevaluation) of the modified alignment, as well as a subsequent reevaluation by FRA (FRA 2023 Reevaluation) considering further route modifications proposed by DesertXpress in 2022. OEA concludes that FRA adequately assessed the potential environmental and historic impacts associated with the project modifications and concurs with FRA’s determination that a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is not necessary. OEA also recommends that the Board impose the revised mitigation measures in Appendix D of the FRA 2023 Reevaluation [see STB decision]. Historic review of the project modifications had also been ongoing and was completed this year. A Programmatic Agreement (PA) setting out the final terms for compliance with Section 106 was executed on August 15, 2023.”
According to the STB, DesertExpress Enterprises, LLC on April 13, 2021, “filed a petition under 49 U.S.C. 10502 for an exemption from the prior approval requirements of 49 U.S.C. 10901 to construct and operate an approximately 50-mile high-speed passenger rail line between the Victor Valley, in Southern California, and Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., (the RC Line)” (see map below). On July 12, 2021, the STB instituted a proceeding under 49 U.S.C. 10502, and through the OEA, participated in the environmental and historic review of the RC Line as a cooperating agency under the lead of the FRA. “This thorough environmental review took a ‘hard look’ at environmental impacts, selected a preferred alternative, and recommended environmental mitigation conditions to avoid or minimize the selected alternative’s potential environmental impacts,” the STB reported. “After considering the entire record on both the transportation and the environmental issues, the Board will grant DesertXpress’ petition for exemption, subject to environmental conditions.”
In sum, the STB explained that it had “already authorized construction and operation of the LV Line [between Victorville, Calif., and Las Vegas, Nev.] by exemption in 2011, and the modified alignment would lessen or avoid a number of potential environmental impacts by placing much of the routing in the I-15 median.” It noted that “the merits of a high-speed rail passenger line connecting Las Vegas and Southern California are substantial … Moreover, providing a rail alternative along the I-15 corridor would not only create a transportation benefit for passengers; it would also create environmental benefits in replacing highway vehicle traffic, and its associated emissions, with more environmentally friendly rail travel. Therefore, after considering the transportation merits, the environmental issues, and the entire record, the Board will grant the petition for exemption and authorize the modified alignment of the LV Line by modifying the 2011 routing condition, subject to compliance with the mitigation measures listed in Appendix D of the FRA 2023 Reevaluation.”
Also on Nov. 15, the STB authorized Brightline West to construct and operate approximately 50 miles of new rail line between Victor Valley, California and Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., subject to environmental mitigation conditions.
The STB, in its decision filing, explained that the RC Line’s alignment will be entirely within the I-15 right-of-way except for the final mile at Rancho Cucamonga, which will exit the I-15 right-of-way, proceed west along 8th Street and terminate adjacent to the Southern California Regional Rail Authority’s (Metrolink’s) Rancho Cucamonga train station on the south side of 8th Street west of Milliken Avenue. The Rancho Cucamonga station will link Brightline West’ train services with the passenger services operated by Metrolink and the bus rapid transit system. “Brightline West states that connecting its service to Metrolink’s rail system in this manner will create a seamless all-rail option for travel between Las Vegas and points throughout the greater Los Angeles, Calif., Orange County, Calif., and San Bernardino, Calif. metropolitan areas,” STB reported.
The RC Line, it said, will be built and operated on a dedicated, fully grade-separated right-of-way with no at-grade crossings; it will consist of a single main-line track with passing sidings and will be dedicated exclusively to high-speed passenger service. According to the STB, current plans are to operate 50 trains per day (25 in each direction) between Las Vegas and Rancho Cucamonga; trains will depart from both Las Vegas and Rancho Cucamonga at 45-minute intervals and will operate at speeds up to 180 miles per hour.
According to Railway Age Contributing Editor David Peter Alan, when the new line enters service, “it will fill a gap in the nation’s passenger rail network that has existed since May 1997. That was when Amtrak discontinued the Desert Wind, a train between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City that stopped at Las Vegas and connected with the California Zephyr, which still runs between Chicago and the Bay Area.”
The Pain In The Pass website will bring you further project news and construction updates as the project progresses.
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