Would You Take a Bullet Train from Anaheim to Las Vegas?... Brightline West

[Vegas Disney Fan]

Buses are fantastic in other countries. A lack of bus lanes, density, cleanliness, and interconnectivity with a larger network I think is what seriously hurts ridership in the States.

We take buses all the time in London, even in somewhat sketchy areas like when we stayed near Heathrow, and there’s no comparison to US buses, the only buses I’ll get on in the states are Disney buses or charter buses going to and from the Disney parks or the Disney cruise terminal.

There's stories here probably once a week about random violence on a local bus, statistically it’s probably very rare but it’s still something I’d rather not deal with.

 

[TP2000]

We take buses all the time in London, even in somewhat sketchy areas like when we stayed near Heathrow, and there’s no comparison to US buses, the only buses I’ll get on in the states are Disney buses or charter buses going to and from the Disney parks or the Disney cruise terminal.

I'm the same way. I've happily used public transit in Western Europe and Asia, but you couldn't pay me to get on a public bus in the USA. And now in California, you couldn't pay me to get on a train aside from the Surfliner or Coast Starlight.

There's stories here probably once a week about random violence on a local bus, statistically it’s probably very rare but it’s still something I’d rather not deal with.

What's troubling is that killings and violent attacks seem to be increasing on LA's transit system in recent years, at the same time its ridership across all forms (Buses, light rail/subway, commuter rail) has nearly halved from just 10 years ago.

You'd have to be rather desperate, or unable to afford a car, to take a bus or train in Los Angeles now. And that's exactly why I'm worried about Brightline West's plan to link to Union Station via a cross-platform transfer to Metrolink trains. Do the Brightline executives out in Florida not understand how unsavory that sounds to many people in SoCal now?

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

Do the Brightline executives out in Florida not understand how unsavory that sounds to many people in SoCal now?

The relatively high price should provide for a much better experience than the local bus/trains full of homeless people who paid a dollar, or jumped the turnstile, just to get out of the elements, I hope so anyway, I drive to LA nearly a dozen times every year, I’d love to ditch my car and take the train.

Doesn’t make sense to fly, not a fun drive, a third option could be great.

An auto train like they have in the east would be ideal but for some reason it’s never been proposed for the I15 route.

 

[TP2000]

An auto train like they have in the east would be ideal but for some reason it’s never been proposed for the I15 route.

You're right, why hasn't Amtrak proposed an Auto Train route from SoCal to Las Vegas?

I have always wanted to take the Auto Train! I considered it several times when I lived back East, but never pulled the trigger. I wish I would have now.

I mainly wanted to ride it not to get my car to Florida, but just to hang out in the lounge car and hear Bill Murray sing TV theme songs over a watered down scotch and soda.

 

[TP2000]

I'll be heading to San Diego County for the rest of the summer just after the July 4th weekend, once my official duties as the Supreme Judge for my neighborhood's decorated Independence Day bike n' golf cart parade are completed. I look forward to seeing if the Brightline crews are still out surveying in the summer desert heat, God bless 'em.

But this Tweet made me laugh. I'm glad to see Brightline West has their rolling stock priorities in the right place!

 

[tanc]

Sounds like a great plan, count your losses in Vegas and then your losses at Disneyland!

 

[truecoat]

I'm going to do a Vegas/Disneyland trip after this opens. I almost did one a few years ago but I definitely will after this opens. It'll be a great experience.

 

[TP2000]

I'm driving the I-15 route to San Diego tomorrow. If I see the Brightline crews working in the 110 degree heat, I'm going to roll down my window and give 'em the thumbs up. I bet that will lift their spirits instantly.

 

[Ismael Flores]

what i find hilarious is that they still haven't come up with a final plan on how they are planning to connect the brightline train station to the nearby Ontario International airport. Some council members wanted to connect it by creating the Musk tunnels, one of the stupidest ideas for the area. The other option they had been considering is Shuttles, another stupid idea that will just add traffic on the surrounding streets and eventually will not be enough to handle any future growth. The last idea makes more sense and that is to extend the light rial line from Rancho Cucamongo/Brightline station and possibly one other station on the Metrolink line.
The station will be above the existing metrolink station so a connection to LA will be there at opening.
Lets hope that Metrolink gets smart and offers direct trains from LA to Rancho if not who would want to add the additional hour it takes on metrolink because of all the stops it does.
Several studies have been done and the consensus is that out of all the major airports in the area the most logical for expansion and growth is Ontario. They just need to figure out how to get people from there to LA and Orange county. They also need to figure out how to advertise the fact that Ontario International Airport is in the LA area and not Canada.


Speaking of airports, LAX is so behind on their expansion plans that they are now worried they will not be anywhere near done by the Olympics.

They still need to finish the renovations on all terminals, They still have to finish building offsite terminals for the expansion of the Bradley West Terminal expansion. They need to get that done so they can relocate the offsite smaller plane landings that now use the terminal east of Sepulveda. Once they relocate those terminals that whole area east of Sepulveda needs to be demolished and New Terminals 9 and 10 built. These new terminals will have their own people mover stop.

The new transportation system which was dumbed down from original loop, keeps getting delayed because of strained relationship with contractor and airport. This is now not going to open till sometime fall of 2025. The delay on the people mover has now also delayed the demolition of the Uber/Lyft taxi area for relocation to the new central hub and car rental area east of the airport.

if this is not done soon, the new terminal will be under construction during Olympics as well. This new terminal named Concourse 0 was suppose to be under construction already.

It amaze me how one of the worst airports and one of the busiest airports can not get their stuff done at proper pace and that it still does not have direct conenctions to any transportation system that does not include shuttles. meanwhile Burbank which can not expand anymore has an underground station for the fast speed rail in development.

 

[chadwpalm]

I'm going to do a Vegas/Disneyland trip after this opens. I almost did one a few years ago but I definitely will after this opens. It'll be a great experience.

I did just that the week leading up to Memorial weekend. I live in the Bay Area and drove that trip.

Monday, May 20th I drove half way to Vegas and stayed at a motor lodge in Mojave. Then Tuesday I drove the rest of the way to Vegas and stayed 3 nights at The Linq. Friday I drove to Anaheim and stayed 3 nights and went to Disneyland Saturday and Sunday. Finally drove home Monday.

I'd would consider flying to Vegas then taking the train down to Disneyland and fly back home from Santa Ana if the train didn't stop in Rancho Cucamonga. I think it's the leg from there to Anaheim that would make me not want to do it, honestly.

 

[TP2000]

what i find hilarious is that they still haven't come up with a final plan on how they are planning to connect the brightline train station to the nearby Ontario International airport.

The concept of terminating this line in Rancho Cucamonga is the weak link in this otherwise sound business plan. I would hope that LA would get off its duff and at least electrify the Metrolink line from Rancho Cucamonga to Union Station to prevent the need for cross-platform transfers, but even that modest plan doesn't seem to have any coherent strategy behind it from the LA Metro board.

Perhaps Brightline can just do an end run around the LA politicians and electrify that line themselves? It wouldn't be high speed for that last leg, but you could easily do 80mph from Cucamonga to Union Station and finish the job.

Speaking of airports, LAX is so behind on their expansion plans that they are now worried they will not be anywhere near done by the Olympics.

I haven't been keeping up too much on that LAX topic, but somehow I'm not surprised. I'm worried about the LA Olympics plan in general. Apparently their plan is to only use public transportation to move tens of thousands of participants, media and spectators around the LA basin each day to all the venues.

But the LA Metro system is dirty, crime ridden, and scary. People are being killed on those trains and buses almost monthly lately. And the entire city is blanketed with homeless encampments, graffiti and trash, and rampant social decay. And that California city is going to represent the USA on the world stage in just 4 years time for the Olympics?

Forget about OCVibe not being built, the LA plan for logistics, transport, and aesthetics is very worrying to me. Is Peter Euberoth (sp?) still alive? Could we coax him out of retirement in time to salavage this?

 

[TP2000]

It amaze me how one of the worst airports and one of the busiest airports can not get their stuff done at proper pace and that it still does not have direct conenctions to any transportation system that does not include shuttles. meanwhile Burbank which can not expand anymore has an underground station for the fast speed rail in development.

I've got friends near Glendale who are all excited about their new Burbank airport they are now building from the ground up, next door to the current and very old Burbank Bob Hope airport.

It's supposed to open in '26, and it does look snazzy!

 

[TP2000]

I didn't see any actual workmen along I-15 this evening, because I didn't leave Las Vegas until right around 5:00pm. But I did see what appeared to be construction equipment and various "stuff" that looked like it was there for major surveying around Zzyxx Road and south of the California line.

I honked a few times at the stuff anyway, even though there were no workmen there to appreciate it. People don't use their horns as much as they used to, or at least as much as they do back East, so it was kind of fun.

 

[NobodyElse]

I didn't see any actual workmen along I-15 this evening, because I didn't leave Las Vegas until right around 5:00pm. But I did see what appeared to be construction equipment and various "stuff" that looked like it was there for major surveying around Zzyxx Road and south of the California line.

I honked a few times at the stuff anyway, even though there were no workmen there to appreciate it. People don't use their horns as much as they used to, or at least as much as they do back East, so it was kind of fun.

Thanks for trying.

While they are primarily utilizing the median, it's not all smooth sailing. They will need to re-build some of those overpasses, and even add some. (Think about how many little dirt short-cuts you saw between the two directions of highway - the ones used for "emergency vehicles only". Those all go away when the tracks get laid. They will need to strategically replace some of them with overpasses.)

 

[NobodyElse]

BTW, this is a pretty good overview of the project.

​

It's from 2022, but I believe most of what he presents remains unchanged.

And this guy did a pretty impressive rendering based on what he knew at the time.


Enjoy.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

I’ve made the drive to LA a few times since they had their official ground breaking ceremony a couple months ago and still haven’t seen any sign of actual construction anywhere. I drive by the station land in Vegas every week and the only thing they’ve done is put up a couple signs, I will be absolutely shocked if this is open for the 2028 Olympics like they hope.

It was exciting to see them doing the boring tests in the I15 median last year but I haven’t seen anything since, not sure if they’re still waiting on approvals but I get less optimistic that this will be completed in my lifetime with each day with no sign of progress anywhere.

Hopefully once they start it’s quick because it’s a massive job.

 

[Ismael Flores]

I've got friends near Glendale who are all excited about their new Burbank airport they are now building from the ground up, next door to the current and very old Burbank Bob Hope airport.

It's supposed to open in '26, and it does look snazzy!

yes it is a great design and the building will be much better situated than what was there.They basically had no choice because of the way the building was aging and the adjustment of the landing strip. Sadly for all that new investment the airport is not only landlocked they are also not allowed to expand, add new terminal or even gates. It is just a replacement building.
They even have a curfew of when they can take off and land and where they can park the planes during non take off or landing hours.


regarding being landlocked, the Orange County airport has the same problem after the failed attempt to use a much larger piece of property at Marine Corps Air Station El Toro. That large property instead was decided by voters to become a nature reserve and park. The park was built but it is mostly a sports park, a wild rivers and majority of land became housing. I think the remaining land is right in the middle of the property where the main landing fields were or still exist.

 

[TP2000]

regarding being landlocked, the Orange County airport has the same problem after the failed attempt to use a much larger piece of property at Marine Corps Air Station El Toro. That large property instead was decided by voters to become a nature reserve and park. The park was built but it is mostly a sports park, a wild rivers and majority of land became housing. I think the remaining land is right in the middle of the property where the main landing fields were or still exist.

Oh, don't get me started on the massive swindle that is "The Great Park"! What a crock.

Why anyone on this planet EVER believes anything a politician or bureaucrat tells them is beyond me.

That said, I do think John Wayne has worked wonders with that land and logistics hurdles they have. It's one of the highest rated airports, it's clean and easy and fast, and it has some truly remarkable flight options. You pay a bit more from the privilege, but it's worth it. I recently learned that American Airlines now offers its Flagship First lay-flat suites on nonstop flights from New York to John Wayne. Who knew?!?

 

[NobodyElse]

They even have a curfew of when they can take off and land and where they can park the planes during non take off or landing hours.

They seem to employ the kinder, gentler version of SNA's strict policy.

 

[truecoat]

I did just that the week leading up to Memorial weekend. I live in the Bay Area and drove that trip.

Monday, May 20th I drove half way to Vegas and stayed at a motor lodge in Mojave. Then Tuesday I drove the rest of the way to Vegas and stayed 3 nights at The Linq. Friday I drove to Anaheim and stayed 3 nights and went to Disneyland Saturday and Sunday. Finally drove home Monday.

I'd would consider flying to Vegas then taking the train down to Disneyland and fly back home from Santa Ana if the train didn't stop in Rancho Cucamonga. I think it's the leg from there to Anaheim that would make me not want to do it, honestly.

We were going to fly my Dad to Vegas then drive to Disneyland and fly back from there. We ended up cutting out the Vegas part which was the right move at the time.