usually i hate cgi renders of random tech and infrastructure projects but this one was actually fun because it actually teaches things, instead of being purely artistic interpretations. seriously, I've never seen such a good visualization of something this scale.
Thank you! I appreciate that. I had some feedback from the first one I did like this to help me out a little and tried to maximize the ratio of talking to showing. I think the views get a little same-y without the associated info rolling in.
I think they also have an overpass here and there that they will need to replace, so the video is by no means an exhaustive list. They do have some experience with the type of construction, however, in Florida, so at least they're not starting from zero.
@@LucidStewone other thing Brightline West will help finance and build, working with Caltrans and CA Dept of Fish & Wildlife, are three wildlife crossings to go across the I-15, and their tracks, at Rasor Road, Zzyzx Road, and Mountain Pass. Brightline announced it in a press release on their website in February 2023.
@@LucidStew I'm not sure that they'll really be able to transfer anything useful from that experience. For one, the regulatory climates are quite different (Nevada and Florida may be more similar, but California and Florida are worlds apart). But even so, my understanding is that it's not really the same company at all. They share an investment group, but are essentially licensing the name from the Florida company. And, since that project has been completed for a while, I doubt that anyone who actually had a literal hand in building it still works for the company at all, especially considering that it's basically a real estate investment group, and would have no use for a local construction worker in between projects. As far as I've heard, they've never said a word about shipping out any experienced team members from Florida. However, while four years is ambitious, I think they'll be able to avoid a lot of the snags that the California High Speed Rail is still expensively fumbling its way through. Considering that they're working with a freeway that wasn't built with any kind of plan for high speed rail, it seems to me that there's actually a reasonable amount of freeway reconstruction needed, which I'm sure is by design. I've never seen anything by this channel before (AFAIK), so I didn't really know what to expect going in. I'm not an engineer, environmental engineer, or land planner, but I used to work for a couple of heavyweights in California, so I'm not clueless about these kinds of projects either. I have to say that I was impressed. Great content. Thank you!
You really get a sense of the amount of stuff that needs to be done once you actually collate all it is that they need to do. And keep in mind, there are extensive sections I didn't even show.
Come on, can't make an unreal engine 5 video in 1080p25fps quality. Should be 4K60fps! And you even have the wrong train doing the trip, should be the Alstom Avelia Liberty, or the Siemens Velaro Novo.
Especially with the amount of work in proximity to the interstate. While the interstate makes getting material and workers on site easier, it adds complications for design and engineering. Just look at CAHSR and SR 99 in some places
As a local Las Vegas resident, this video makes me super excited about the future of our city, nonetheless it’ll be a huge engineering feat! Thank you for putting this together and look forward to more updates on possible TOD around the area!
You bet. I've been a fan of all the engineering and fantastic things built in Las Vegas for as long as I can remember. Especially now with so much going on with the sports teams and MSG Sphere as an instant icon. A high speed rail line is just one more unique Las Vegas feature. I've also been following this project since it was announced in 2005 and have always hoped to be able to ride it. Very cool that its finally looking like that will become reality.
A huge engineering feat? I mean long distance high speed rail has been a thing for the last half century. It's purely monetary. But I'm excited as well
@@dylanjaramillo8899 No one has attempted an HSR line like this before. The climate is as extreme as anything that has been done before, and grades exceed the steepest in existence in several locations along the route.
What they really need to do is build an elevated light metro like Vancouver or Honolulu right down the center of the Strip. Vegas has the most obvious layout for a rail transit line of any city ever, with all those trip generators in a single line, anchored by downtown on the north end and the airport (and soon to be Brightline Station) to the south. May need a branch to UNLV, too. Then they could run express busses out to the residential areas around the city that feed into the new metro line.
@@Skip6235 My understand of the situation is that the taxi lobby in Vegas is rather powerful and has been generally successful in let's say 'steering' local government away from mass transit.
I showed all of the double tracking that I think there will be initially. Of course I could be wrong. I think if anything I underestimated, but also I would say there probably wouldn't be more than about 10 miles in addition to what I showed, and that would all be north of the Victor Valley station. The initial double-tracking for Rancho-Victor Valley is identified in the Cajon Pass EA. The section between St. Rose Parkway and the Las Vegas area station will be single-tracked, though, and as far as I know it will stay that way. They do plan to expand service at some point and cut the headways to 30 minutes. At that point the double-tracking would cover about 80% of the 218 mile route.
@@LucidStewdidn’t BLW reduce service from originally every 45 minutes to hourly to better coordinate meeting with every Metrolink train and minimize transfer times? Wouldn’t 1/2-hourly service for BLW mean Metrolink SB Line service needing to do the same?
@@ChrisJones-gx7fc Metrolink is working on 30 min headways system-wide as part of the SCORE program upgrades for the Olympics. Good for BLW in the future, but also on open. Just that many more options coming from elsewhere to 8th St. Makes it easier to connect at LAUS, too.
@@LucidStew If it is true, they broke the most fundamental rule of high speed rail infrastructure construction, which is not acceptable. They shouldn't even be even 1 single track existing and there they are having so many. Might as well just use normal train or build more dedicated viaducts for the high speed train.
IMHO, I don’t think that Brightline West would actually extend from the Rancho station into LA Union Station, assuming that the existing San Bernardino line remains unelectrified. I suspect that there will be a joint venture between Brightline & CAHSR, possibly others, to build & develop the High Desert Corridor between Victor Valley & Palmdale, connecting the two systems and, hypothetically at least, allowing Brightline to use CAHSR into Union & CAHSR to use Brightline out to Las Vegas. While Interstate 10 could provide a conveniently nearby ROW for Brightline to reuse into DTLA, looking at Google Earth, there doesn’t appear to be much space leftover in which a rail line could be inserted, and the line would likely have to be built on structures. Also, Brightline would either need to reverse back onto the Interstate 15 ROW or possibly build a new viaduct heading south to reach I-10. Whereas, HDC could be more straightforward to construct as there is simply more space and less obstacles to avoid, possibly getting away with more at-grade construction in the empty nothingness. Plus costs would be split between the different entities involved rather than being solely on Brightline.
@@TheWolfHowling The problem here is trying to figure out what's going to happen in a timeframe so large. It's just really difficult to say when CAHSR will get to Palmdale or even IF it will. BLW-HDC-CAHSR would get you to L.A. about as fast as BLW would get to Rancho Cucamonga, so its definitely the faster choice, but Palmdale-Burbank is going to cost $25 billion+. That's going to require a major shift in state and federal politics. On the current trajectory they may never have the money for it.
@@LucidStew Yeah, HDC will definitely be a phase 3, at best, for CAHSR, after the Phase 1 SF-LA mainline, and the Phase 2 branches to San Diego & Sacramento. I wouldn't expect any shoves in the ground until the late 2030s in the Best Case Scenario, with the 2040s much more likely. We Have to remember that Rancho was Brightline's LA extension. If they were going to continue to Union, why would they be wasting resources with Rancho? Would be simpler to stay in the Interstate ROWs
I used to live in the Rancho Cucamonga area, it's so cool that we're talking about an HSR project in a place that I know! I will say I'm a bit surprised by how much of this will be single tracked... Anyway, another great video; keep them coming please!
Amazing work creating this render. People need to appreciate their timeline to build this in just 4 years and one of the more challenging mountain passes for any high speed train in the world, having to follow the path of a freeway, very cool. It will make for a really fun train ride with great views especially in winter if there is snow on the mountains.
oh man, this video really shows just how complex this project is. At least CAHSR has shovels in the ground already. I wouldn't be surprised if BLW construction goes much slower than predicated because of all the highway-adjacent construction required along this route. Doubt people will be too happy about I-5 lanes being shut down while they replace brides and build new ones. Not to mention utility relocations and all the other stuff CAHSR has learned can be a problem. I would be surprised if this project is carrying passengers by 2030 and might honestly be ready at about the same time as the CAHSR IOS.
Right? I got the same impression putting it together. Doesn't seem like quite as much until you put it all into a single package, and of course there are lots of parts I didn't cover in detail. I think we'll get an idea of how they're doing later this year if construction starts when they'd like it to. 2028 seems very ambitious, but they do have the Orlando extension to point to, and they were quite close to being on schedule there. Will be interesting to watch the next few years.
I’m amazed they’re quoting a 4-ft barrier as sufficient to divide vehicle traffic from the train. It seems like any vehicle debris from an accident could easily land on the tracks at that height!
Finally, a video explanation of entire route. My biggest question since I heard about this plan was always getting up Cajon Pass. I couldn’t even find information on Brightline’s page.
Incredible work. I'm a fan of your channel. This was really educational - I severely underestimated the complexity of the project. I hope Brightline pulls it off.
Very nice rendering of the route to get everyone excited....go Brightline for a successful completion ! Thank yous as we follow along on this fantastic project.
love your videos, and thank you for keeping us informed about Brightline West. I think they might be finished well before CAHSR, if they start on time and not have any hiccups. Keep up the good work. And I like the information on the CAHSR.
What a great video. I know the entire route quite well, so flying past so many landmarks is a lot of fun. Your rendering and technical analysis are amazing. Keep it up.
I will say, I wish they would build their stations in Victorville and Barstow rather than out in the middle of nowhere. It would likely be a lot more convenient for passengers that way, since they might not need to drive to the station.
That would significantly increase the price of the projects due to Right of Way and land acquisitions. Those places have 4+ years to get their local transit in order to get people to and from the station, not to mention those areas around the station won't be "in the middle of nowhere" for long as development will surely take place.
Controversial opinion incoming: I don't think BLW cares that much about the High Desert. The VAST majority of their traffic will be between Rancho Cucamonga and Las Vegas. The Hesperia station was not their idea. They're doing that to placate the county. Brightline's business model is built around right of way adjacent land acquisition and development. The Apple Valley site gives them 300 acres to play with. They may also be somewhat constrained by the original XpressWest plans, which start in that area. If they'd moved the station further south they may have needed to restart the NEPA process, which could have delayed the project for years. You also have to consider the High Desert Connector, which will connect Victorville and Palmdale. That will connect to the Brightline West route about 5-6 miles south of the Victor Valley station. That would hypothetically, eventually get you a one-seat ride to DTLA. You wouldn't want your main High Desert station south of that.
@@LucidStew My thoughts exactly. I guess this is what happens when you have a private company build a high speed railway, they just focus on the profitable bits and public service is an afterthought. Good point on the environmental permitting for the station sites, but I somewhat disagree on the High Desert point, as you could likely fit a junction in south of downtown Victorville, meaning you could have a connection even with a more southerly station, and the Barstow station would actually be a fair bit north of Victor Valley I would suspect that any junction would be slightly south of downtown Victorville, thus having that interchange not be a problem. Of course, that is not going to happen for now, and Hesperia station will likely get the job done for Victorville, and perhaps they could eventually be convinced to give Barstow an infill station.
@@owenstockwood5040 the plus side of private builds is they can push for even more development on their chosen sites. Given a handful more projects like this & there'd be lots of new route-pair potentials should they be wise & go for density
I hope that with them building to Vegas that they will want to go to Salt Lake City via St. George and arrive at the Rio Grande Depot when the Rio Grande Plan is done!! Mr. Stew I bet you would like that plan!
Super cool to catch a reference to the RGP on this channel. There's existing track ROW between SLC and Vegas but it skips St. George as well as Provo further north, instead going into SLC from the west via the Great Salt Lake. A route continuing along 1-15 would best serve the most people but would also be very difficult in some spots due to topography
@@LucidStew oh wow!! Thanks for letting me know. Definitely looking forward to brightline west to finish. Isn’t there also talks of Amtrak running a line on the track as well?
@@cxsey8587Amtrak did include an LA-Vegas route in their ConnectUS 2035 plan, though that will be on the existing UP tracks. Not sure how competitive that route would be, given the previous Desert Wind service had a considerably longer travel time than driving between LA and Vegas, and as far as I’ve heard Las Vegas has had little interest in reviving that service. I would love to see Amtrak bring it back all the way to SLC, and tie it in with the Zephyr so one could directly get from LA to Denver that way, rather than have to go up to the Bay Area or Sacramento to catch the Zephyr there. I’d also bring back the Pioneer service between at least SLC and Portland, tying it in with the Zephyr as well. So all three trains would meet up at SLC and continue east as one long train, and westbound they’d split there to head to their respective destinations, same as it was before.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but some parts look really expensive to double track after the fact. You would need to rebuild retaining walls or relocate highway lines again...
@@KaiWritesCode Likely the parts you're thinking will remain single-tracked. Sorry, I don't remember the source atm, but 19 miles north of the Victor Valley station will remain so(19 of 169 miles). Higher percentage between Rancho and Victor Valley. The part running through Victorville will stay that way. They will add about 5 miles of double-tracking in Cajon Pass(probably the more level part). Also, there is a section up in north Fontana just south of Lytle Creek that has room.
I live in Apple Valley. I'm a fiber optic technician and my route goes from San Berandino to Baker. I'll have a ring side seat to this project. I could catch the train at Hesperia or the Apple Valley station. But I'll be driving to Vegas most of the time because this train will elevate a whole lot of traffic on I-15! I hope they finish this project by 2028 for the Olympics. This will be a huge economic success for our area.
I definitely thing the short term pain will pay off in the long run. I think Americans need to really see what HSR is like in the US. If you have travelled to Europe or Asia you will see how convenient HSR is to alleviating traffic. Lets keep in mind for a good portion of the I-15 past victorville that the majority of folks are going to Las Vegas so if there is a way to alleviate that with the LA to Vegas HSR I am all for it.
Hay Lucid Stew, I worked in Vegas in the 1960s the newspaper gave a "rendering" of a monorail doing an L A to Vegas route. With Brightline I may actually see it happen before I croke.
I really hope that the terminal station in vegas is more of a temporary fix, as I would much rather see it go underground either to the airport or closer to the strip so that it is much more usable
I would doubt it. The route is pretty expensive for their purposes as is. Your better bet would be to get local transit to there. Personally I'm in favor of an elevated light rail line in the median of Las Vegas Blvd. all the way to Fremont St., but I'm in the lunatic fringe.
This is amazing render. Good job! Unlike the Florida Brightline I am glad they went fully electric. Probably pushed by the state of California. No way they finish this by Olympics 2028.
Im so glad weve all come together to create such a technical marvel, I always knew we needed a dedicated route from Outdoor World in Rancho to the Outdoor World in Vegas
Hey Lucid Stew! I'm a new viewer of your channel and I'm excited to see your coverage on developing HSR projects, and find your content very informative. That being said, I'm a 23 y/o union carpenter from the PNW, and very interested on being a part of building the infrastructure to get the nation's first HSR service in operation. I understand the nature of your content isn't to explicitly cover the actual building that takes place for these kinds of projects, but I -- and likely many others -- would appreciate something in your videos that could point us in the direction to find employment and work on these projects (being that I currently don't live in socal nor Las Vegas) I appreciate your time and effort put into these videos!
Actually, I will be covering the construction once it starts, probably on a monthly or quarterly basis. BLW has some press releases about agreements with labor. www.brightlinewest.com/media/press-releases You can probably figure out the right unions or organizations to contact from those. Let me know if you have any luck.
This is awesome, I’m looking forward to bright line, I’m also looking forward to the San Gorgonio pass rail project, I would love to see a rendering of that corridor.
Loving this render! Definitely seems less complex than CAHSR in terms of sheer number of large structures required, but $12 billion and 4 (but actually 3) years is very ambitious.
Your video is amazing, your voiceover work is excellent, your theorizing on build solutions is exceptional; you're obviously researched this quite thoroughly. THANK YOU for your immense effort. Let's now see if Brightlines effort will match yours! I believe you've accomplished the impossible here with this video - that being - you make this project look as though it could actually happen. I live in the southern area of Las Vegas. I've been eagerly awaiting HOW Brightline is going to manage to pull-off this miracle. The liberal use of the term "shoehorn" and/or "wedge" is apt and fitting, when describing just how narrow some of these ROWs will be, so as to accommodate the track, catenary, and walls. I don't at all mean to take a cynical shot at YOU, but rather expose some of the trickery Brightline will need to conjure up to make this line a reality. It's going to cost them dearly, and I for one expect costs to exceed their project $12B. If it actually gets built - and runs - I also expect a lot of motors to blow-up under load (climbing as well as descending hills).
Wow. Brightline West route and trains recreated in Unreal Engine. Those trains look good. The US is really getting high speed rail. I think there are some railroad crossings on the brightline West route.
This was fantastic! Great job. I came here after seeing the groundbreaking event in Las Vegas. I look forward to your updated videos about Brightline West!
Great work! Really enjoyed the 3d renders of the Brightline route. As a semi-regular visitor to Vegas who drives Interstate 15, I can tell you it TAKES YEARS to upgrade the freeway or add a lane - and this is with dirt and desert on each side (no major developments)!!! Major, time-consuming work will have to be done at the Cajon Pass, as well as the Halloran Summit and the grades past Baker and leading into Vegas at Stateline. I wonder if the 'easy' parts will progress first, with the mountain grades being done last.
Your video incidentally illustrates the sharp difference between Brightline West and CHSRA. Not only will the top speed of CHRSA be about double nearly all of Brightline's trackage, it will scarcely slow except to stop for stations, especially Fresno.
With stations averaging 40 miles apart CAHSR will have an average speed of 120 mph whereas BLW will average 101 mph. Top speeds are over-rated! BLW will be 218 miles vs. 171 for CAHSR. BLW will cost $8 B vs $32 B for CAHSR. BLW will carry 50-100% more passengers and be operating years before CAHSR. For obvious reasons CAHSR will not have "express trains" either. The biggest mistake will be not connecting Norcal to Socal by traversing the Grapevine.
If you don't count all the places where CAHSR will be blended, which comes to about 120 miles of track. But, yes, it is certainly a different approach and CAHSR will be faster, sometimes quite a bit faster, for a large majority of trips. However, that's not always the case. For instance, speed performance in the L.A. basin will be relatively low, averaging about 60mph
@@dragoxphere3341 Trains at one hour intervals will serve all five stations in the Valley to maximize ridership. Perhaps more frequently lF ridership warrants it. But still, every station will be served in the valley by every train. Perhaps testing will achieve 220-250 mph but station stops will mean the 90 minute ride from Merced to Bakersfield will average about 120 mph.
So far Vegas Loop is planning to have a station on the corner of Blue Diamond and Las Vegas Blvd., but I'm guessing they'll put one on the BLW property as well.
You should've seen what Brightline did with one of their cars during Ultra Music Festival in Florida. Definitely was a party car, had a DJ and all. I'm sure you can find it on their social media account. I can easily see them converting a dining car into a "lounge".
Excellent video! Do you know if they are planning on building any stubs during this initial construction for the future potential High Desert Corridor connection to Palmdale and the CAHSR at the Victor Valley site? And if they are leaving the door open at the Las Vegas station for any possible future northern extension?
I've not read anything about a prep for HDC connection. It's supposed to be in the area between the Mojave River and Victor Valley Station parts of the video and there's nothing out there really, so shouldn't be a huge issue. I doubt they'd extension north from the station. The connection to UP in Sloan is dubious, so if there were to do that maybe they'd want to try to hook up with UP west of the 15 to get to Las Vegas or maybe even SLC? I think they'd probably try to expand to a different city pair or extend Florida to Tampa before anything like that would happen, though.
Seeing how much construction will have to go into this, I doubt it'll be done by 2028 and for under $15B. But hey, you ain't getting anything done in Cali without a lotta money and a lotta patience! Amazing render! Let's do this!
You know you sound just like Nerdrotic. Nice video of probably the only California HS Train that gets running in my lifetime and the one that makes most sense. Love the "Bird Cooker" comment, the train might get some power from the various Bird Choppers located in the windy passes around the state too.
Good job. As a geographer I like good visualizations of the lay of the land. I like. Based on their Right-of-Way philosophy, Brightline West could relatively easily do the same with a link from Rancho Cucamonga, California to Phoenix, Arizona. Looking at Google Earth, the center divide has even more room than the 15 does to Vegas.
Really good job on the animation. Now I can finally visualize this better as I could not picture how this would fit in some areas or where the stations would be. I’m not sure they can get it done in 4 years though. That seems ambitious.
Amazing video as always @LucidStew, even when I'm watching this video at 1am😅 I suggest that Brightline reduces the radius in those curves, sorry if I'm a pain in the ass with that but I'm Spanish and the well-known accident of Angrois in Santiago de Compostela resurfaces when I see new projects with such tight curves, although, I hope to see the train running for the 2028 games🤞
Being that the route will be confined to the median of the freeway for nearly the entire length, I don't think there will be a lot of opportunity to expand curves. Maybe some. In the Yermo section(the median is almost 100ft wide there) there is a curve that has enough room to increase the radius from roughly 110mph to about 175.
I lived in Hesperia/Victorville many years. How great this will be if they do get it done. It’s a magnificent project! Do I think they will make the 2028 deadline? If the State of California doesn’t slow them down I think it will happen. Fantastic!! Thanks for doing the video.
How do you figure? CAHSR has a ton more challenges. This line Is mostly being built along the freeway through the desert and doesn't have to deal with a million eminent domain issues and construction in dense urban areas.
I think a key for this to be successful after they build it will be all the drivers watching the train whip past them. I know this will be tough with all the high grade portions but hopefully they can get a train that can make it look impressive even going uphill.
That will be hit and miss because I can guarantee it will be slower than traffic in some places. It is not unusual to see people driving 100mph out there, so they have some competition to seem truly fast. For me personally, it would only take one time being bumper to bumper coming into Victorville on a Sunday night with the train going by at 110mph to convince me to try it next time.
@@LucidStew Good point! I'm on the New England coast, so seeing normal people going 100 is much more rare than being stuck going 40 or less on a business day.
@@s.lajoie9961 It used to be EXTREMELY fast out there. Dangerously fast. However, in the last few decades traffic has increased quite a bit and road capacity hasn't really kept pace, so it's not so off-the-charts now except in the flatter Arabian Peninsula-looking parts out past Barstow. But amazingly, you can STILL run into traffic. If you haven't seen it, check out Roaming Railfan's video driving and droning the route. He ran into some traffic out there(I got lucky on MY drive out there). It's also another good companion for this video.
I would love to see a video about the property devepments along the Brightline route & stations. I know they make a huge chunk of their money from these properties being developed.
There isn't really enough info there for a video, but I'm happy to share what I know here. In Rancho Cucamonga they're only going to be able to acquire enough land for the station and adjacent multi-story parking garage. There is planned mixed-use development on about 90 adjacent acres, but that is not owned or being developed by BLW. Hesperia they own no adjacent land that I know of. They're building that station at the request of San Bernardino County, presumably to grease the wheels. Victor Valley they have 300 acres adjacent to the station, but haven't announced any plans for it. If they do develop it, I imagine that would be mostly single-family homes, maybe something a little more interesting right around the station. Las Vegas is the big one. They have 110 acres there. The station will only consume about 30 of that. No plans announced yet. Wes Edens was part of a plan to bring an NBA team to Vegas. That would have been housed in an arena within a sports-themed megaresort on the parcel next door to the south. However, that fell through. That empty section of Las Vegas Blvd. frontage where Brightline West will end up has room for 3 Strip-sized megaresorts, but nothing has been announced. If you're going to keep an eye on any part, that's the interesting one. Sloan, they haven't announced any plans for a station there, but they will be acquiring some freeway frontage for their maintenance and operations facility. Another long-range possibility is out in Jean, NV where the relief airport will be built eventually. Again, no station planned there, currently. I wouldn't anticipate any movement on that until that airport is sufficiently far along and its not even in planning yet.
Great, great, GREAT video. Well done man! I hope they'll be able to get this done on time, but I'm not concerned about the $12 billion budget. Not having much land acquisition to worry about outside of the maintenance facilities is a huge deal. I know there are some twists and turns but I think it was wise of Brightline to keep to the freeway median. I think $12 billion with that in mind will get this done.
great job. I love that you took the time to create and research this. I've been wanting to see concepts of where there were single and double track alignments. I am curious about the single track alignment when its crossing under bridges in the Victor Valley which side of the center bridge support columns the track will be on or if they plan to replace all bridges so that there is no center column.
Thanks. From the 30% design it looks like the track will be on east side of the freeway through areas like Fontana and Victorville. The plan is to widen and reconfigure the one side of the freeway where the track does not fit. It that is not possible, they will replace the overcrossing. More often than not the existing bridges will stay.
Great video. The project itself though is a little worrying. I understand it's very expensive, but it has the character of one done on the cheap - sharp corners and curves, single tracks and steep grades. On the positive side, as you point out it should provide a very scenic trip.
It's cool to see someone go over the alignment from the EIS/final rules with something as detailed as this! It also brings to light how the combination of some tight curves of placing in the median and the steep grade can slow things down. But hey, it'll have more miles at max speed than I think the Acela ever got! And no crossings! And 200 mph!! With that, and I know this is no small task, but would you ever consider the route for Texas Central? I just feel bad for the poor Final rule that was achieved after so long and yet the remaining forces of funding are still uncertain. So close. Yet Andy Byford seemed to have teleported into Amtrak's role focusing on HSR practically as *the* saving grace for the dormant project, TO MAKE IT RELEVANT AGAIN ;o; Anyway, awesome video!!
For the various remaining proposed HSR projects I'm trying to wait to cover their region with a corridor video first. Technically Texas Central isn't even a part of the Southeast Corridor, but that video is coming relatively soon. I haven't dived into the TCR feis yet, so I don't know if the guidance is as good as here, but I will eventually make a visual explanation of that, too.
Watched this several times got me thinking. Would be interesting if Brightline starts two crews at the concrete plant you show and works building out from there in each direction. Good way to get concrete and materials into the median
They're planning to build the project in 4 segments. Sounds like the Cemex connection will allow them to haul the massive amounts of cement needed to directly where they'll need it. They'd be able to back into the right of way at the maintenance of way spur by the Victor Valley station site, so I wonder if that freeway work might be one of the first things they do in California... 🤔
Awesome video. That computer generation software looks fun to experiment alignments with. Seems they could move the station closer to Vegas if they tried. Also seems like a waste building the Victor Valley with probably no passengers yet not creating Barstow for commuting to Los Angeles like Hesperia.
Fun to lay down tracks for sure. Layering in all the little details is a little more tedious. But just track and the train it reveals things about the landscape and route choices that satellite or even 3D without the track doesn't accomplish. The way BLW has explained it is that Victor Valley is meant as a singular station for the entire area. It's only a couple of miles farther from Barstow than it is the Hesperia station. I think the main attraction was the land. You have to remember they're a development company as much as a railroad company. I think they want both to work, and for rail to break even, but they're most successful when rail and development drive each others value. Despite Brightline in Florida struggling to become profitable, they're apparently doing quite well on the real estate development side.
I'm just going to offer up one small point. Saying that a high berm across the Ivanpah lake bed is all that is needed is a touch short sighted. Having had the pleasure of driving to and from So Cal and Vegas a few times the water has managed to cover the freeway, other times is has washed out the freeway in places, the last time was just last year. You run into bigger problems if there is rain AND high wind, if that wind is coming from the east it pushes the shallow water right up to the freeway, so maybe a concrete wall would be needed.
Great video! Really is wonderful to see clean tech infrastructure ideas get planned. Now actually under construction! So many job opportunities, especially in concrete production/transport/finishing. I hear a solar powered concrete plant is going up near Mojave? Hope that works cuz it'll take 50 years of electric train travel before we can overcome the carbon deficit of fossil fuel concrete production needed for this.
Great video- it adds context on the scope of this project. I seriously doubt BLW will complete the entire project by 2028 due to this being their first HSR project as well as the amount of infrastructure that needs to be built. Nevertheless, I will be cheering them on and look forward to one day riding this train.
I do think the Brightline extension to Orlando has provided them with valuable experience, but this seems like a tremendous task for the time frame. I'm crossing my fingers for 2030. If they can get it done in time for the Olympics, wow. They ARE looking to employ 11,000 construction workers to build this thing, though, so they're certainly serious about the scale of construction.
@@franz-peterkayser722 I suppose that's not completely out of the realm of possibility. They do have separate environmental assessments for the 2 sections, so they may be able to get approval from the FRA and STB to operate just one on an interim basis until the other is ready.
That 500' radius curve from 8th St into the I15 is tight, doable but tight. The rail wear will be significant; I'd reckon they will need to replace the outer rails on that curve approx annually (even with lubricators). The trains will likely be able to maintain 75mph going up the pass but the 5 - 6% might leave them gasping and looking for the top of the grade! 😛Going down will see very heavy braking on that 4% grade (not even going to mention the rail creep!!!😲), and get around that 60mph curve at the bottom of the pass. Not saying this is all not doable, but combined with the high ambient temperatures 🥵, will really push the train's capabilities. I guess the design engineers will use this to strengthen their designs and increase marketability; if it will perform on BLW it will perform anywhere ... .
Eh, I'm not concerned about the grade. For instance, the Hallerbach Viaduct 4% sees old ICE 3s traverse up and down it regularly much less the improved/newer ICE 3neos. While 5-6% is a good deal more, I don't see it as a problem for the even lighter & more powerful Velaro Novos/AP 220s. Agreed that Siemens will definitely showcase this to markets around the world.
Without exaggeration it is an extreme route. I really doubt it would have gotten this far if there were real engineering issues, however, it will be interesting to see how the extra maintenance works out and affects their bottom line. Another wrinkle of using single-tracked sections... if you have to replace extensive parts or do maintenance that extends beyond overnight you might have some service problems... As far as the grades and curves go, it DOES all need to get past the FRA, so there's a possible, substantial delay right there if anything pops up after implementation.
@@LucidStew I could see external pressure from the Department of Transportation, US government, state government, and more on the FRA passing if there's a chance it can actually start in time for the Olympics. The US at that point will be on a world stage and there will be pressure to get the train running. Even if there's slow orders in certain areas while things are fixed. The two Orlando Brightline FL opening delays were due to FRA qualifications. Eventually the route was opened with a reduce speed and then within 4 weeks later, the full 110 MPH between West Palm Beach & Cocoa was allowed. Again, this is if they're right on the cusp of opening. If the safety margin is way too far to risk or Brightline West is way behind schedule, this won't matter.
@@LucidStew Good point. Being parsimonious in construction WILL increase their maintenance, both infrastructure and rollingstock, which as you say will affect BLW's bottom line.
It’s wild to me that this doesn’t terminate in DTLA or Pasadena. Living in LA this sounds like a great way to get to Vegas but I’m a 40 minute drive (over 2 hours by public transit) from Rancho Cucamonga, and I’m in EAST LA.
The original intention was to hook up with California High Speed Rail in Palmdale and possibly run single-seat from there on CAHSR tracks into L.A. Union Station. Rancho is more of a stop gap until CAHSR can get its act together sometime in the 22nd century. We still might see Brightline West into Union Station in a more reasonable time frame if the High Desert Corridor is built and Metro electrifies the Antelope Valley line. There has been some pressure of late for Metrolink to electrify the SB Line from Rancho into Union Station, which could also happen, but sounds unlikely in the short term.
Awesome rendering! We’re excited about taking this train one day. I am a bit worried about the rider price. The convenience factor is going to have to be matched with an appropriate ticket price.
That’ll be really scenic as it travels through the Cajon pass
usually i hate cgi renders of random tech and infrastructure projects but this one was actually fun because it actually teaches things, instead of being purely artistic interpretations. seriously, I've never seen such a good visualization of something this scale.
Thank you! I appreciate that. I had some feedback from the first one I did like this to help me out a little and tried to maximize the ratio of talking to showing. I think the views get a little same-y without the associated info rolling in.
I was expecting a /s
Totally agree, great job.
I am astonished by how much highway construction this high-speed rail project would involve, but perhaps I should not be surprised
I think they also have an overpass here and there that they will need to replace, so the video is by no means an exhaustive list. They do have some experience with the type of construction, however, in Florida, so at least they're not starting from zero.
@@LucidStew Well, at least they have that previous experience. Thank you for your wonderfully-animated video :)
@@LucidStewone other thing Brightline West will help finance and build, working with Caltrans and CA Dept of Fish & Wildlife, are three wildlife crossings to go across the I-15, and their tracks, at Rasor Road, Zzyzx Road, and Mountain Pass. Brightline announced it in a press release on their website in February 2023.
@@LucidStew I'm not sure that they'll really be able to transfer anything useful from that experience. For one, the regulatory climates are quite different (Nevada and Florida may be more similar, but California and Florida are worlds apart). But even so, my understanding is that it's not really the same company at all. They share an investment group, but are essentially licensing the name from the Florida company. And, since that project has been completed for a while, I doubt that anyone who actually had a literal hand in building it still works for the company at all, especially considering that it's basically a real estate investment group, and would have no use for a local construction worker in between projects. As far as I've heard, they've never said a word about shipping out any experienced team members from Florida.
However, while four years is ambitious, I think they'll be able to avoid a lot of the snags that the California High Speed Rail is still expensively fumbling its way through. Considering that they're working with a freeway that wasn't built with any kind of plan for high speed rail, it seems to me that there's actually a reasonable amount of freeway reconstruction needed, which I'm sure is by design.
I've never seen anything by this channel before (AFAIK), so I didn't really know what to expect going in. I'm not an engineer, environmental engineer, or land planner, but I used to work for a couple of heavyweights in California, so I'm not clueless about these kinds of projects either. I have to say that I was impressed. Great content. Thank you!
Watching that huge grade makes me a little more wary that the project will be completed on time. This is certainly a huge engineering effort!
You really get a sense of the amount of stuff that needs to be done once you actually collate all it is that they need to do. And keep in mind, there are extensive sections I didn't even show.
Come on, can't make an unreal engine 5 video in 1080p25fps quality. Should be 4K60fps! And you even have the wrong train doing the trip, should be the Alstom Avelia Liberty, or the Siemens Velaro Novo.
Especially with the amount of work in proximity to the interstate. While the interstate makes getting material and workers on site easier, it adds complications for design and engineering. Just look at CAHSR and SR 99 in some places
@@ncard00 Great, you make one and show me how its done.
@@TysonIke The Cajon pass is going to be a nightmare with this. They'll almost surely need to close lanes to build the MSE walls through there.
Being in my 90’s, I suppose it’s wishful thinking that I get to ride this!!…..but I’m planning on it!!!
I believe if you made it to your 90's you got it in ya to go just a little more sah. ❤
You might. It is a private company not a state government project.
I doubt it will be built in the next 20 years good luck.
@@MrCubflyer it is already under construction, it would require a catastrophic national disaster or war to make this take 20 years
Update: Brightline West is now under construction, construction officially started yesterday, April 22, 2024.
so Which conspiracy is True.. Lolz
@@AMPProf Sir, this is a train video.
Good luck,Harrison! Keep us updated with your work on tracks!
@@harrisonofcolorado8886just ignore. It’s a kid trolling
additional update: heavy Contruction is due to begin 2025
As a local Las Vegas resident, this video makes me super excited about the future of our city, nonetheless it’ll be a huge engineering feat! Thank you for putting this together and look forward to more updates on possible TOD around the area!
You bet. I've been a fan of all the engineering and fantastic things built in Las Vegas for as long as I can remember. Especially now with so much going on with the sports teams and MSG Sphere as an instant icon. A high speed rail line is just one more unique Las Vegas feature. I've also been following this project since it was announced in 2005 and have always hoped to be able to ride it. Very cool that its finally looking like that will become reality.
A huge engineering feat? I mean long distance high speed rail has been a thing for the last half century. It's purely monetary. But I'm excited as well
@@dylanjaramillo8899 No one has attempted an HSR line like this before. The climate is as extreme as anything that has been done before, and grades exceed the steepest in existence in several locations along the route.
The city of Las Vegas should extend the monorail to the Brightline station
Last I heard they're getting rid of it.
What they really need to do is build an elevated light metro like Vancouver or Honolulu right down the center of the Strip. Vegas has the most obvious layout for a rail transit line of any city ever, with all those trip generators in a single line, anchored by downtown on the north end and the airport (and soon to be Brightline Station) to the south. May need a branch to UNLV, too. Then they could run express busses out to the residential areas around the city that feed into the new metro line.
@@Skip6235 My understand of the situation is that the taxi lobby in Vegas is rather powerful and has been generally successful in let's say 'steering' local government away from mass transit.
Elevated would kill views from cars on the Strip. I believe a subway with the access tunnels doubling as ped crossings under the Strip.
@@Db_travelerviews from cars? Is that a factor that would kill transit?
Surprised at the amount of single-tracked sections....especially at the LV terminus.
I showed all of the double tracking that I think there will be initially. Of course I could be wrong. I think if anything I underestimated, but also I would say there probably wouldn't be more than about 10 miles in addition to what I showed, and that would all be north of the Victor Valley station. The initial double-tracking for Rancho-Victor Valley is identified in the Cajon Pass EA. The section between St. Rose Parkway and the Las Vegas area station will be single-tracked, though, and as far as I know it will stay that way. They do plan to expand service at some point and cut the headways to 30 minutes. At that point the double-tracking would cover about 80% of the 218 mile route.
@@LucidStewdidn’t BLW reduce service from originally every 45 minutes to hourly to better coordinate meeting with every Metrolink train and minimize transfer times? Wouldn’t 1/2-hourly service for BLW mean Metrolink SB Line service needing to do the same?
@@ChrisJones-gx7fc Metrolink is working on 30 min headways system-wide as part of the SCORE program upgrades for the Olympics. Good for BLW in the future, but also on open. Just that many more options coming from elsewhere to 8th St. Makes it easier to connect at LAUS, too.
@@LucidStew If it is true, they broke the most fundamental rule of high speed rail infrastructure construction, which is not acceptable. They shouldn't even be even 1 single track existing and there they are having so many. Might as well just use normal train or build more dedicated viaducts for the high speed train.
@@shinkaitan5664 This is not a new paradigm. Spain uses it in places to keep capital costs low.
I can dream! I’m 73 years old! It will be listed on my bucket list!🙏🙏🙏🙏
Dude, you should do the (hypothetical) Los Angeles to Rancho Cucamonga portion of the Brightline West.
I'm going to keeping a pretty close eye on U.S. HSR for years to come, so you can expect just about every topic you can imagine at some point. :)
@@LucidStew Alright, thanks.
IMHO, I don’t think that Brightline West would actually extend from the Rancho station into LA Union Station, assuming that the existing San Bernardino line remains unelectrified. I suspect that there will be a joint venture between Brightline & CAHSR, possibly others, to build & develop the High Desert Corridor between Victor Valley & Palmdale, connecting the two systems and, hypothetically at least, allowing Brightline to use CAHSR into Union & CAHSR to use Brightline out to Las Vegas. While Interstate 10 could provide a conveniently nearby ROW for Brightline to reuse into DTLA, looking at Google Earth, there doesn’t appear to be much space leftover in which a rail line could be inserted, and the line would likely have to be built on structures. Also, Brightline would either need to reverse back onto the Interstate 15 ROW or possibly build a new viaduct heading south to reach I-10. Whereas, HDC could be more straightforward to construct as there is simply more space and less obstacles to avoid, possibly getting away with more at-grade construction in the empty nothingness. Plus costs would be split between the different entities involved rather than being solely on Brightline.
@@TheWolfHowling The problem here is trying to figure out what's going to happen in a timeframe so large. It's just really difficult to say when CAHSR will get to Palmdale or even IF it will. BLW-HDC-CAHSR would get you to L.A. about as fast as BLW would get to Rancho Cucamonga, so its definitely the faster choice, but Palmdale-Burbank is going to cost $25 billion+. That's going to require a major shift in state and federal politics. On the current trajectory they may never have the money for it.
@@LucidStew Yeah, HDC will definitely be a phase 3, at best, for CAHSR, after the Phase 1 SF-LA mainline, and the Phase 2 branches to San Diego & Sacramento. I wouldn't expect any shoves in the ground until the late 2030s in the Best Case Scenario, with the 2040s much more likely. We Have to remember that Rancho was Brightline's LA extension. If they were going to continue to Union, why would they be wasting resources with Rancho? Would be simpler to stay in the Interstate ROWs
I used to live in the Rancho Cucamonga area, it's so cool that we're talking about an HSR project in a place that I know! I will say I'm a bit surprised by how much of this will be single tracked...
Anyway, another great video; keep them coming please!
This was so much more informative then I expected and so helpful. Thank you!
You're welcome!
Amazing work creating this render. People need to appreciate their timeline to build this in just 4 years and one of the more challenging mountain passes for any high speed train in the world, having to follow the path of a freeway, very cool. It will make for a really fun train ride with great views especially in winter if there is snow on the mountains.
oh man, this video really shows just how complex this project is. At least CAHSR has shovels in the ground already. I wouldn't be surprised if BLW construction goes much slower than predicated because of all the highway-adjacent construction required along this route. Doubt people will be too happy about I-5 lanes being shut down while they replace brides and build new ones. Not to mention utility relocations and all the other stuff CAHSR has learned can be a problem. I would be surprised if this project is carrying passengers by 2030 and might honestly be ready at about the same time as the CAHSR IOS.
Right? I got the same impression putting it together. Doesn't seem like quite as much until you put it all into a single package, and of course there are lots of parts I didn't cover in detail. I think we'll get an idea of how they're doing later this year if construction starts when they'd like it to. 2028 seems very ambitious, but they do have the Orlando extension to point to, and they were quite close to being on schedule there. Will be interesting to watch the next few years.
I thought that too until I heard they're looking to have 11,000 construction workers. Broken down into segments, I can see this happening.
@@Ven100 Yeah, 4 sections. A huge logistical task. We'll see how it goes!
2030 is a much more realistic completion date as they'll encounter delays & issues just as CHSRA has. As said, let's see.
@@LucidStew But Florida is flat. California has many mountains.
More than the renders, your research and commentary are the star of the video. Great job!
Thanks. I've been looking at these environmental assessment docs for a while now and boy is it fun! :D
I’m amazed they’re quoting a 4-ft barrier as sufficient to divide vehicle traffic from the train. It seems like any vehicle debris from an accident could easily land on the tracks at that height!
Well in places that trains already run in the median of a freeway it is pretty much the same like i-10
You’re right about that. That doesn’t provide much confidence with safety on this project.
Especially if that train is going 140mph.
Finally, a video explanation of entire route. My biggest question since I heard about this plan was always getting up Cajon Pass. I couldn’t even find information on Brightline’s page.
Incredible work. I'm a fan of your channel. This was really educational - I severely underestimated the complexity of the project. I hope Brightline pulls it off.
Very nice rendering of the route to get everyone excited....go Brightline for a successful completion ! Thank yous as we follow along on this fantastic project.
love your videos, and thank you for keeping us informed about Brightline West. I think they might be finished well before CAHSR, if they start on time and not have any hiccups. Keep up the good work. And I like the information on the CAHSR.
They should be operating before CAHSR, but production of this video was an eye-opener. They have a LOT to do and not much time to do it!
This is trains we're talking about. They are always slow to build, over budget, and never quite finished. There will be many, many hiccups.
Love the news videos, but being able to visualize these projects is so badass. Keep it up!
What a great video. I know the entire route quite well, so flying past so many landmarks is a lot of fun. Your rendering and technical analysis are amazing. Keep it up.
I will say, I wish they would build their stations in Victorville and Barstow rather than out in the middle of nowhere. It would likely be a lot more convenient for passengers that way, since they might not need to drive to the station.
That would significantly increase the price of the projects due to Right of Way and land acquisitions. Those places have 4+ years to get their local transit in order to get people to and from the station, not to mention those areas around the station won't be "in the middle of nowhere" for long as development will surely take place.
Controversial opinion incoming: I don't think BLW cares that much about the High Desert. The VAST majority of their traffic will be between Rancho Cucamonga and Las Vegas. The Hesperia station was not their idea. They're doing that to placate the county. Brightline's business model is built around right of way adjacent land acquisition and development. The Apple Valley site gives them 300 acres to play with. They may also be somewhat constrained by the original XpressWest plans, which start in that area. If they'd moved the station further south they may have needed to restart the NEPA process, which could have delayed the project for years. You also have to consider the High Desert Connector, which will connect Victorville and Palmdale. That will connect to the Brightline West route about 5-6 miles south of the Victor Valley station. That would hypothetically, eventually get you a one-seat ride to DTLA. You wouldn't want your main High Desert station south of that.
@@LucidStew My thoughts exactly. I guess this is what happens when you have a private company build a high speed railway, they just focus on the profitable bits and public service is an afterthought. Good point on the environmental permitting for the station sites, but I somewhat disagree on the High Desert point, as you could likely fit a junction in south of downtown Victorville, meaning you could have a connection even with a more southerly station, and the Barstow station would actually be a fair bit north of Victor Valley I would suspect that any junction would be slightly south of downtown Victorville, thus having that interchange not be a problem. Of course, that is not going to happen for now, and Hesperia station will likely get the job done for Victorville, and perhaps they could eventually be convinced to give Barstow an infill station.
@@owenstockwood5040 the plus side of private builds is they can push for even more development on their chosen sites. Given a handful more projects like this & there'd be lots of new route-pair potentials should they be wise & go for density
This is one of the reasons it will fail. Stations at distant inconvenient areas, and stopping at these stations slows down the entire trip.
I hope that with them building to Vegas that they will want to go to Salt Lake City via St. George and arrive at the Rio Grande Depot when the Rio Grande Plan is done!! Mr. Stew I bet you would like that plan!
Super cool to catch a reference to the RGP on this channel. There's existing track ROW between SLC and Vegas but it skips St. George as well as Provo further north, instead going into SLC from the west via the Great Salt Lake. A route continuing along 1-15 would best serve the most people but would also be very difficult in some spots due to topography
Really hoping this route blows up and they get some funding to double track it
Their plan is to cut headways in half by the 11th year of operation and that would require expanding double-tracking by about 4X.
@@LucidStew oh wow!! Thanks for letting me know. Definitely looking forward to brightline west to finish. Isn’t there also talks of Amtrak running a line on the track as well?
@@cxsey8587Amtrak did include an LA-Vegas route in their ConnectUS 2035 plan, though that will be on the existing UP tracks. Not sure how competitive that route would be, given the previous Desert Wind service had a considerably longer travel time than driving between LA and Vegas, and as far as I’ve heard Las Vegas has had little interest in reviving that service.
I would love to see Amtrak bring it back all the way to SLC, and tie it in with the Zephyr so one could directly get from LA to Denver that way, rather than have to go up to the Bay Area or Sacramento to catch the Zephyr there. I’d also bring back the Pioneer service between at least SLC and Portland, tying it in with the Zephyr as well. So all three trains would meet up at SLC and continue east as one long train, and westbound they’d split there to head to their respective destinations, same as it was before.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but some parts look really expensive to double track after the fact. You would need to rebuild retaining walls or relocate highway lines again...
@@KaiWritesCode Likely the parts you're thinking will remain single-tracked. Sorry, I don't remember the source atm, but 19 miles north of the Victor Valley station will remain so(19 of 169 miles). Higher percentage between Rancho and Victor Valley. The part running through Victorville will stay that way. They will add about 5 miles of double-tracking in Cajon Pass(probably the more level part). Also, there is a section up in north Fontana just south of Lytle Creek that has room.
I live in Apple Valley. I'm a fiber optic technician and my route goes from San Berandino to Baker. I'll have a ring side seat to this project. I could catch the train at Hesperia or the Apple Valley station. But I'll be driving to Vegas most of the time because this train will elevate a whole lot of traffic on I-15! I hope they finish this project by 2028 for the Olympics. This will be a huge economic success for our area.
I definitely thing the short term pain will pay off in the long run. I think Americans need to really see what HSR is like in the US. If you have travelled to Europe or Asia you will see how convenient HSR is to alleviating traffic. Lets keep in mind for a good portion of the I-15 past victorville that the majority of folks are going to Las Vegas so if there is a way to alleviate that with the LA to Vegas HSR I am all for it.
Hay Lucid Stew, I worked in Vegas in the 1960s the newspaper gave a "rendering" of a monorail doing an L A to Vegas route. With Brightline I may actually see it happen before I croke.
Many thanks for this film. It is fascinating. Building whole track between highway roads is so unusual from the point of view of Europe.
Looking forward to seeing the construction
Really nice renders! Having it in 3d really helps appreciate the scale in a way just pouring over the 30% drawings can't.
Had the same thought putting it together. At about the same point I express it in the video. It was like "wow, this is a lot".
I really hope that the terminal station in vegas is more of a temporary fix, as I would much rather see it go underground either to the airport or closer to the strip so that it is much more usable
I would doubt it. The route is pretty expensive for their purposes as is. Your better bet would be to get local transit to there. Personally I'm in favor of an elevated light rail line in the median of Las Vegas Blvd. all the way to Fremont St., but I'm in the lunatic fringe.
@@LucidStew Yeah, or a subway or anything, instead they're gambling on the boring company instead...
@@mysticaloreo9278 As far as I understand it the taxi lobby makes mass transit generally difficult in Vegas.
@@LucidStew An underground Boring Company station there and at the airport
@@LucidStew Yeah, and honestly I get it from their pov, lobbying should be made illegal tbh
: OUTSTANDING, All Aboard. May the rails be with us.
🐢 🚆 🐢 🚅 🐢 🚂 🐢 😲
You did an excellent job telling us about the high-speed railway to Vegas from Los Angeles. You should get a job with Brightline immediately. !!!
Thank you. I'll let them know. :)
This is amazing render. Good job! Unlike the Florida Brightline I am glad they went fully electric. Probably pushed by the state of California. No way they finish this by Olympics 2028.
Great job. Exciting times ahead. Youuu get a gold star!
The visualization is great. There is a lot of information and the overall structure of the BL helps visualize the project. Thank you!
Im so glad weve all come together to create such a technical marvel, I always knew we needed a dedicated route from Outdoor World in Rancho to the Outdoor World in Vegas
😂😂
Hey Lucid Stew! I'm a new viewer of your channel and I'm excited to see your coverage on developing HSR projects, and find your content very informative.
That being said, I'm a 23 y/o union carpenter from the PNW, and very interested on being a part of building the infrastructure to get the nation's first HSR service in operation. I understand the nature of your content isn't to explicitly cover the actual building that takes place for these kinds of projects, but I -- and likely many others -- would appreciate something in your videos that could point us in the direction to find employment and work on these projects (being that I currently don't live in socal nor Las Vegas)
I appreciate your time and effort put into these videos!
Actually, I will be covering the construction once it starts, probably on a monthly or quarterly basis. BLW has some press releases about agreements with labor. www.brightlinewest.com/media/press-releases You can probably figure out the right unions or organizations to contact from those. Let me know if you have any luck.
New development plans for pipe to pipe extra large and new fresh underground and inside-the-mountain water reservoirs would be sooooo awesome!
Great video! I live in this part of SoCal and it's gonna be exciting to witness the construction of this rail line over the next few years.
This is awesome, I’m looking forward to bright line, I’m also looking forward to the San Gorgonio pass rail project, I would love to see a rendering of that corridor.
Loving this render! Definitely seems less complex than CAHSR in terms of sheer number of large structures required, but $12 billion and 4 (but actually 3) years is very ambitious.
Your video is amazing, your voiceover work is excellent, your theorizing on build solutions is exceptional; you're obviously researched this quite thoroughly. THANK YOU for your immense effort. Let's now see if Brightlines effort will match yours!
I believe you've accomplished the impossible here with this video - that being - you make this project look as though it could actually happen. I live in the southern area of Las Vegas. I've been eagerly awaiting HOW Brightline is going to manage to pull-off this miracle. The liberal use of the term "shoehorn" and/or "wedge" is apt and fitting, when describing just how narrow some of these ROWs will be, so as to accommodate the track, catenary, and walls. I don't at all mean to take a cynical shot at YOU, but rather expose some of the trickery Brightline will need to conjure up to make this line a reality. It's going to cost them dearly, and I for one expect costs to exceed their project $12B. If it actually gets built - and runs - I also expect a lot of motors to blow-up under load (climbing as well as descending hills).
Wow. Brightline West route and trains recreated in Unreal Engine. Those trains look good. The US is really getting high speed rail. I think there are some railroad crossings on the brightline West route.
Amazing video! Thank you so much!
you're welcome!
This was fantastic! Great job. I came here after seeing the groundbreaking event in Las Vegas. I look forward to your updated videos about Brightline West!
Great work! Really enjoyed the 3d renders of the Brightline route. As a semi-regular visitor to Vegas who drives Interstate 15, I can tell you it TAKES YEARS to upgrade the freeway or add a lane - and this is with dirt and desert on each side (no major developments)!!! Major, time-consuming work will have to be done at the Cajon Pass, as well as the Halloran Summit and the grades past Baker and leading into Vegas at Stateline. I wonder if the 'easy' parts will progress first, with the mountain grades being done last.
Awesome job!!! I enjoy your videos
Your video incidentally illustrates the sharp difference between Brightline West and CHSRA. Not only will the top speed of CHRSA be about double nearly all of Brightline's trackage, it will scarcely slow except to stop for stations, especially Fresno.
With stations averaging 40 miles apart CAHSR will have an average speed of 120 mph whereas BLW will average 101 mph. Top speeds are over-rated! BLW will be 218 miles vs. 171 for CAHSR. BLW will cost $8 B vs $32 B for CAHSR. BLW will carry 50-100% more passengers and be operating years before CAHSR. For obvious reasons CAHSR will not have "express trains" either. The biggest mistake will be not connecting Norcal to Socal by traversing the Grapevine.
If you don't count all the places where CAHSR will be blended, which comes to about 120 miles of track. But, yes, it is certainly a different approach and CAHSR will be faster, sometimes quite a bit faster, for a large majority of trips. However, that's not always the case. For instance, speed performance in the L.A. basin will be relatively low, averaging about 60mph
@@davidjackson7281 "For obvious reasons CAHSR will not have "express trains" either."
Um, what?
@@dragoxphere3341 Trains at one hour intervals will serve all five stations in the Valley to maximize ridership. Perhaps more frequently lF ridership warrants it. But still, every station will be served in the valley by every train. Perhaps testing will achieve 220-250 mph but station stops will mean the 90 minute ride from Merced to Bakersfield will average about 120 mph.
@@LucidStew l wonder if CAHSRA's April 11th board meeting, when the 2024 Business Plan is presented, will be on TH-cam?
Game changer infrastructure and video.
This plus Vegas loop and monorail becomes super compelling proposition for tourists.
So far Vegas Loop is planning to have a station on the corner of Blue Diamond and Las Vegas Blvd., but I'm guessing they'll put one on the BLW property as well.
Really hoping they include some party cars 😅
The operating assumptions part of the EA indicates trains will have a 7-car consist as shown in the video, so maybe one will be a party car. :)
You should've seen what Brightline did with one of their cars during Ultra Music Festival in Florida. Definitely was a party car, had a DJ and all. I'm sure you can find it on their social media account. I can easily see them converting a dining car into a "lounge".
Siemens is working on party cars, you can see renderings on their American Pioneer website
Excellent video! Do you know if they are planning on building any stubs during this initial construction for the future potential High Desert Corridor connection to Palmdale and the CAHSR at the Victor Valley site? And if they are leaving the door open at the Las Vegas station for any possible future northern extension?
I've not read anything about a prep for HDC connection. It's supposed to be in the area between the Mojave River and Victor Valley Station parts of the video and there's nothing out there really, so shouldn't be a huge issue. I doubt they'd extension north from the station. The connection to UP in Sloan is dubious, so if there were to do that maybe they'd want to try to hook up with UP west of the 15 to get to Las Vegas or maybe even SLC? I think they'd probably try to expand to a different city pair or extend Florida to Tampa before anything like that would happen, though.
Seeing how much construction will have to go into this, I doubt it'll be done by 2028 and for under $15B. But hey, you ain't getting anything done in Cali without a lotta money and a lotta patience! Amazing render! Let's do this!
Super interesting. Nice work. I look forward to more.😊
Amazing graphics. Thumbs up.
You know you sound just like Nerdrotic. Nice video of probably the only California HS Train that gets running in my lifetime and the one that makes most sense. Love the "Bird Cooker" comment, the train might get some power from the various Bird Choppers located in the windy passes around the state too.
I don't really hear it. Maybe we have a similar cadence. He's from California originally, so maybe you're hearing a similar accent.
@@LucidStew It probably is mostly cadence and sense of humor, most of us native Californians don't have accents.
Talented and informative as always!
Good job. As a geographer I like good visualizations of the lay of the land. I like. Based on their Right-of-Way philosophy, Brightline West could relatively easily do the same with a link from Rancho Cucamonga, California to Phoenix, Arizona. Looking at Google Earth, the center divide has even more room than the 15 does to Vegas.
Lovely video mate
Hi from Victor Valley!! Stay Victorious!
Maybe the first local I've heard from. What do you think about the station placements?
@@LucidStew The station is in Victorville, not in Victor Valley.
Really good job on the animation. Now I can finally visualize this better as I could not picture how this would fit in some areas or where the stations would be. I’m not sure they can get it done in 4 years though. That seems ambitious.
Lovely work, man
Amazing video as always @LucidStew, even when I'm watching this video at 1am😅
I suggest that Brightline reduces the radius in those curves, sorry if I'm a pain in the ass with that but I'm Spanish and the well-known accident of Angrois in Santiago de Compostela resurfaces when I see new projects with such tight curves, although, I hope to see the train running for the 2028 games🤞
Being that the route will be confined to the median of the freeway for nearly the entire length, I don't think there will be a lot of opportunity to expand curves. Maybe some. In the Yermo section(the median is almost 100ft wide there) there is a curve that has enough room to increase the radius from roughly 110mph to about 175.
I lived in Hesperia/Victorville many years. How great this will be if they do get it done. It’s a magnificent project! Do I think they will make the 2028 deadline? If the State of California doesn’t slow them down I think it will happen. Fantastic!! Thanks for doing the video.
This is why Train Sim World should look like.
ill be amazed if they pull this off. they have a lot of challenges ahead of them. i wouldnt be suprised at all if CAHSR opens service first
It's a race! This is the part of U.S. HSR I'm most excited about really.
Don't count on California to complete anything that size, especially when it's 100% public money, unlike Brightline West.
How do you figure? CAHSR has a ton more challenges. This line Is mostly being built along the freeway through the desert and doesn't have to deal with a million eminent domain issues and construction in dense urban areas.
Love it. I always wanted to do this, but don't have the time... thank you sir!
I think a key for this to be successful after they build it will be all the drivers watching the train whip past them. I know this will be tough with all the high grade portions but hopefully they can get a train that can make it look impressive even going uphill.
That will be hit and miss because I can guarantee it will be slower than traffic in some places. It is not unusual to see people driving 100mph out there, so they have some competition to seem truly fast. For me personally, it would only take one time being bumper to bumper coming into Victorville on a Sunday night with the train going by at 110mph to convince me to try it next time.
@@LucidStew Good point! I'm on the New England coast, so seeing normal people going 100 is much more rare than being stuck going 40 or less on a business day.
@@s.lajoie9961 It used to be EXTREMELY fast out there. Dangerously fast. However, in the last few decades traffic has increased quite a bit and road capacity hasn't really kept pace, so it's not so off-the-charts now except in the flatter Arabian Peninsula-looking parts out past Barstow. But amazingly, you can STILL run into traffic. If you haven't seen it, check out Roaming Railfan's video driving and droning the route. He ran into some traffic out there(I got lucky on MY drive out there). It's also another good companion for this video.
Nice work.
So now when I go to Vegas, I'll be able to fly to LA and take the train? Cool!
Great video! Details were on point.
I would love to see a video about the property devepments along the Brightline route & stations. I know they make a huge chunk of their money from these properties being developed.
There isn't really enough info there for a video, but I'm happy to share what I know here. In Rancho Cucamonga they're only going to be able to acquire enough land for the station and adjacent multi-story parking garage. There is planned mixed-use development on about 90 adjacent acres, but that is not owned or being developed by BLW. Hesperia they own no adjacent land that I know of. They're building that station at the request of San Bernardino County, presumably to grease the wheels. Victor Valley they have 300 acres adjacent to the station, but haven't announced any plans for it. If they do develop it, I imagine that would be mostly single-family homes, maybe something a little more interesting right around the station.
Las Vegas is the big one. They have 110 acres there. The station will only consume about 30 of that. No plans announced yet. Wes Edens was part of a plan to bring an NBA team to Vegas. That would have been housed in an arena within a sports-themed megaresort on the parcel next door to the south. However, that fell through. That empty section of Las Vegas Blvd. frontage where Brightline West will end up has room for 3 Strip-sized megaresorts, but nothing has been announced. If you're going to keep an eye on any part, that's the interesting one.
Sloan, they haven't announced any plans for a station there, but they will be acquiring some freeway frontage for their maintenance and operations facility.
Another long-range possibility is out in Jean, NV where the relief airport will be built eventually. Again, no station planned there, currently. I wouldn't anticipate any movement on that until that airport is sufficiently far along and its not even in planning yet.
Thank you for the video. Amazing work.
Great video, very informative! Thanks!
Great, great, GREAT video. Well done man!
I hope they'll be able to get this done on time, but I'm not concerned about the $12 billion budget. Not having much land acquisition to worry about outside of the maintenance facilities is a huge deal. I know there are some twists and turns but I think it was wise of Brightline to keep to the freeway median. I think $12 billion with that in mind will get this done.
great job. I love that you took the time to create and research this. I've been wanting to see concepts of where there were single and double track alignments. I am curious about the single track alignment when its crossing under bridges in the Victor Valley which side of the center bridge support columns the track will be on or if they plan to replace all bridges so that there is no center column.
Thanks. From the 30% design it looks like the track will be on east side of the freeway through areas like Fontana and Victorville. The plan is to widen and reconfigure the one side of the freeway where the track does not fit. It that is not possible, they will replace the overcrossing. More often than not the existing bridges will stay.
Great job. Although the grades are steeper than usual I prefer that over long dark expensive tunnels.
This train would be sooo convenient. I hope it happens
Great video. The project itself though is a little worrying. I understand it's very expensive, but it has the character of one done on the cheap - sharp corners and curves, single tracks and steep grades. On the positive side, as you point out it should provide a very scenic trip.
It's cool to see someone go over the alignment from the EIS/final rules with something as detailed as this! It also brings to light how the combination of some tight curves of placing in the median and the steep grade can slow things down. But hey, it'll have more miles at max speed than I think the Acela ever got! And no crossings! And 200 mph!!
With that, and I know this is no small task, but would you ever consider the route for Texas Central? I just feel bad for the poor Final rule that was achieved after so long and yet the remaining forces of funding are still uncertain. So close. Yet Andy Byford seemed to have teleported into Amtrak's role focusing on HSR practically as *the* saving grace for the dormant project, TO MAKE IT RELEVANT AGAIN ;o;
Anyway, awesome video!!
For the various remaining proposed HSR projects I'm trying to wait to cover their region with a corridor video first. Technically Texas Central isn't even a part of the Southeast Corridor, but that video is coming relatively soon. I haven't dived into the TCR feis yet, so I don't know if the guidance is as good as here, but I will eventually make a visual explanation of that, too.
This is an incredible video. Amazing job on unreal!
I will be coming from ontario to take a ride on brightline for sure. All i can think is f#*k yeah!
Enjoyed your video..
Very informative..
Thankyou!!🤩🤩
Watched this several times got me thinking. Would be interesting if Brightline starts two crews at the concrete plant you show and works building out from there in each direction. Good way to get concrete and materials into the median
They're planning to build the project in 4 segments. Sounds like the Cemex connection will allow them to haul the massive amounts of cement needed to directly where they'll need it. They'd be able to back into the right of way at the maintenance of way spur by the Victor Valley station site, so I wonder if that freeway work might be one of the first things they do in California... 🤔
Awesome video. That computer generation software looks fun to experiment alignments with. Seems they could move the station closer to Vegas if they tried. Also seems like a waste building the Victor Valley with probably no passengers yet not creating Barstow for commuting to Los Angeles like Hesperia.
Fun to lay down tracks for sure. Layering in all the little details is a little more tedious. But just track and the train it reveals things about the landscape and route choices that satellite or even 3D without the track doesn't accomplish.
The way BLW has explained it is that Victor Valley is meant as a singular station for the entire area. It's only a couple of miles farther from Barstow than it is the Hesperia station. I think the main attraction was the land. You have to remember they're a development company as much as a railroad company. I think they want both to work, and for rail to break even, but they're most successful when rail and development drive each others value. Despite Brightline in Florida struggling to become profitable, they're apparently doing quite well on the real estate development side.
I'm just going to offer up one small point. Saying that a high berm across the Ivanpah lake bed is all that is needed is a touch short sighted. Having had the pleasure of driving to and from So Cal and Vegas a few times the water has managed to cover the freeway, other times is has washed out the freeway in places, the last time was just last year. You run into bigger problems if there is rain AND high wind, if that wind is coming from the east it pushes the shallow water right up to the freeway, so maybe a concrete wall would be needed.
Great video! Really is wonderful to see clean tech infrastructure ideas get planned. Now actually under construction! So many job opportunities, especially in concrete production/transport/finishing. I hear a solar powered concrete plant is going up near Mojave? Hope that works cuz it'll take 50 years of electric train travel before we can overcome the carbon deficit of fossil fuel concrete production needed for this.
Great video. I will be happy if this project can be completed on time and not go way over budget. It's time we invest in HSR in the USA.
Very informative and entertaining. It must have taken you a lot of time to do this. Very good production.
Thank you. Its just the beginning and production was far from perfect. They'll improve over time.
Great video- it adds context on the scope of this project. I seriously doubt BLW will complete the entire project by 2028 due to this being their first HSR project as well as the amount of infrastructure that needs to be built. Nevertheless, I will be cheering them on and look forward to one day riding this train.
I do think the Brightline extension to Orlando has provided them with valuable experience, but this seems like a tremendous task for the time frame. I'm crossing my fingers for 2030. If they can get it done in time for the Olympics, wow. They ARE looking to employ 11,000 construction workers to build this thing, though, so they're certainly serious about the scale of construction.
My bet is that they will open Victor Valley to Las Vegas first and the rest later.
@@franz-peterkayser722 I suppose that's not completely out of the realm of possibility. They do have separate environmental assessments for the 2 sections, so they may be able to get approval from the FRA and STB to operate just one on an interim basis until the other is ready.
Amazing video!!
This is incredible
That 500' radius curve from 8th St into the I15 is tight, doable but tight. The rail wear will be significant; I'd reckon they will need to replace the outer rails on that curve approx annually (even with lubricators). The trains will likely be able to maintain 75mph going up the pass but the 5 - 6% might leave them gasping and looking for the top of the grade! 😛Going down will see very heavy braking on that 4% grade (not even going to mention the rail creep!!!😲), and get around that 60mph curve at the bottom of the pass. Not saying this is all not doable, but combined with the high ambient temperatures 🥵, will really push the train's capabilities. I guess the design engineers will use this to strengthen their designs and increase marketability; if it will perform on BLW it will perform anywhere ... .
Eh, I'm not concerned about the grade. For instance, the Hallerbach Viaduct 4% sees old ICE 3s traverse up and down it regularly much less the improved/newer ICE 3neos. While 5-6% is a good deal more, I don't see it as a problem for the even lighter & more powerful Velaro Novos/AP 220s. Agreed that Siemens will definitely showcase this to markets around the world.
the problem with 5-6% is not that you have to get over them but also be able to stop and continue the journey
Without exaggeration it is an extreme route. I really doubt it would have gotten this far if there were real engineering issues, however, it will be interesting to see how the extra maintenance works out and affects their bottom line. Another wrinkle of using single-tracked sections... if you have to replace extensive parts or do maintenance that extends beyond overnight you might have some service problems...
As far as the grades and curves go, it DOES all need to get past the FRA, so there's a possible, substantial delay right there if anything pops up after implementation.
@@LucidStew I could see external pressure from the Department of Transportation, US government, state government, and more on the FRA passing if there's a chance it can actually start in time for the Olympics. The US at that point will be on a world stage and there will be pressure to get the train running. Even if there's slow orders in certain areas while things are fixed. The two Orlando Brightline FL opening delays were due to FRA qualifications. Eventually the route was opened with a reduce speed and then within 4 weeks later, the full 110 MPH between West Palm Beach & Cocoa was allowed. Again, this is if they're right on the cusp of opening. If the safety margin is way too far to risk or Brightline West is way behind schedule, this won't matter.
@@LucidStew Good point. Being parsimonious in construction WILL increase their maintenance, both infrastructure and rollingstock, which as you say will affect BLW's bottom line.
It’s wild to me that this doesn’t terminate in DTLA or Pasadena. Living in LA this sounds like a great way to get to Vegas but I’m a 40 minute drive (over 2 hours by public transit) from Rancho Cucamonga, and I’m in EAST LA.
The original intention was to hook up with California High Speed Rail in Palmdale and possibly run single-seat from there on CAHSR tracks into L.A. Union Station. Rancho is more of a stop gap until CAHSR can get its act together sometime in the 22nd century. We still might see Brightline West into Union Station in a more reasonable time frame if the High Desert Corridor is built and Metro electrifies the Antelope Valley line. There has been some pressure of late for Metrolink to electrify the SB Line from Rancho into Union Station, which could also happen, but sounds unlikely in the short term.
San Gabriel Valley @ 2 Million Plus Inland Empire @ 4 Million more = @ 6 Million who don’t want to go to LA!
Really enjoyed this! Thanks!
You're welcome. Thanks for watching!
near the beginning, you have Mentone, CA at the bottom of the Cajon Pass. it's actually Muscoy, CA
Another excellent video! Your running commentary ads keeps me hooked to the video! Keep up the great work
Thank you. I took feedback to heart on the last one like this and tried to avoid the dead air. Sounds like the suggestions were good ones.
Awesome rendering! We’re excited about taking this train one day. I am a bit worried about the rider price. The convenience factor is going to have to be matched with an appropriate ticket price.