Brightline West aims for 1Q 2026 for $6 billion federal rail loan

Brightline West hopes to win approval of a $6 billion federal loan by early 2026 as a key part of a revamped financing package for the West Coast bullet train whose price tag has jumped 31% in the last year.

The company is currently in talks with the U.S. Department of Transportation and Build America Bureau about the proposed Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing program loan, it said Friday in an Electronic Municipal Market Access filing that offered project update and financing details.

Brightline applied for the $6 billion RRIF loan in October. 

The Las Vegas to southern California system’s price tag is now pegged at $21.05 billion, up from $16.1 billion, according to the EMMA notice, which came on the heels of a Thursday announcement of a bondholder agreement that gives the company more time to nail down the financing package. Brightline attributed the increase to a $5.3 billion increase in the construction cost budget, among other factors, and noted that it expects to achieve a $1 billion decrease in financing costs.

DesertXpress Enterprises LLC, which does business as Brightline West and is owned by Fortress Investment Group, aims to own and operate the nation’s fastest train and the first privately owned, all-electric high-speed line, running a 218-mile route between Las Vegas and a suburb of Los Angeles.

Brightline West bonds have traded up since last week’s news. On Friday, $5 million of California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank senior bonds with a 9.5% coupon due in 2065 sold for 85.5. That’s up from 81 on Wednesday and 79.5 on Nov. 3.

In addition to the RRIF loan, which Brightline hopes to nail down in the first quarter of next year, the financing package will include $4 billion of bank debt, $4 billion of “other debt,” $4 billion of equity and $3 billion of grant funding, the notice said.

Brightline estimates that in 2035 the train will generate $2 billion in revenue, based on projections that it will capture 20% of the 48 million of annual trips between Las Vegas and southern California.

The company plans to offer 12% yields for one-year bonds that are exchanged as part of last week’s swap agreement. Bondholders will also receive a pledge of equity interests in Brightline West’s subsidiaries, including equity interests in the company and in an affiliate holding certain real estate assets related to the project.

The company filed a notice Thursday outlining the agreement, which calls first for a private debt exchange with the majority holders followed by a public bond swap. Brightline hopes that all bondholders will ultimately participate in the transactions. The deal includes exchanging $1.8 billion of bonds and re-purchasing roughly $700 million at a price of 101.

The new bonds would be callable in November 2026 and sport the 12% yields. The current senior revenue bonds have 9.5% coupons.

Brightline West sold the $2.5 billion of private activity bonds in February. The terms gave the owner until November to secure additional funds or face a mandatory bond redemption at 101 plus interest.

The latest EMMA notice said the company is nearing the full construction phase, has executed four of nine construction contracts for “significant project scope,” and hopes to finalize remaining contracts in the fourth quarter of 2025 or the first quarter of 2026.