Why will high-speed train from Vegas go to Rancho Cucamonga, CA instead of Los Angeles?

Why did planners choose a city about 45 miles outside Downtown Los Angeles to connect to Las Vegas via high-speed rail?

[-Katastrophe]

Extending HSR the 40 miles between Rancho Cucamonga and LA Union Station would probably cost as much as the entire Brightline West line, so there's that.

[Sacto]

While the ideal solution is extending Los Angeles Union Station, the cost to upgrade the line from Rancho Cucamonga to LA Union Station would be just as expensive as building the line from Rancho Cucamonga to Las Vegas itself.

[kjhuang]

I love how the reporters asked the question about why it stops in RC instead of DTLA and then spent the entire video not answering it.

[logy]

This doesn't explain why it doesn't go to Union Station...

Which, to my understanding is:
1) Metrolink is resilient to change, especially electrification; and
2) There is only a single-track along the rail corridor. Double-tracking would allow Brightline into downtown without worry of delays to the schedule, and there could be vastly more service on the corridor, especially during rush hour, to promote people out of their cars by seeing those trains go by them every 8-15 minutes instead of 30-60...

[cannonfodder]

Simplest reason, it would cost a lot of time and money just to clear a right of way for it.
Plus its easy to reach Rancho for a huge portion of the population of So Cal and easy to build a large parking facility.

[lyndakorner]

The terminus should be at San Bernardino's central station where multiple Metrolink lines converge with the sbX and Arrow transitways and with the future California High-Speed Rail to and from L.A. and San Diego.

[JesusIsLordLasVegas]

Rancho should be the FIRST of several transfer stops, but the terminus should be Union Station in L.A. Downtown is where people want to go. From there, I can easily find my way elsewhere. I will be using this line & don't want to have to get off in R.C. to then wait on a Metro line that far away from the epicenter. It'll take forever to get to L.A. from R.C. and will be a waste of time (may as well drive!). There should also be an Express line option from Vegas straight to Union Station.

The reporter didn't answer the question why it isn't going all the way to downtown. We already know what transfers can be done that was never in dispute. Why aren't we getting what we agreed to initially? And why is everyone in this state always okay with getting ripped off?

[ronmayfield]

It will be built on time because it’s going to Vegas. FYI, in Maryland, the Federal Railroad Administration paused a 5 year $28 million study in 2019 for a 40 mile Maglev train line between DC and Baltimore. After work on the study restarted, FRA initiated a second pause in 2021. Nearly three years into the current suspension, FRA says no updates available. Estimated cost is $18 billion. Japan pledged $5 billion toward the project. Northeast Maglev, private company leading the project, withdrew application in late December for a water quality certification from Md Dept of the Environment. MDE was going to reject the request, pointing to a bevy of missing details. Northeast Maglev intends to resubmit application after it acquires more engineering and design information.
I bet LasVegas to Rancho Cucamonga is completed first.

[iloks]

They need to make the metro link run later times i think the last one from down town la to IE is at 1030pm

[kthan]

It's like buying a plane ticket to NY but the airline dropped you off and landed in NJ instead, as if to tell you, "Here you are, bud! You can go walk or take a cab to NY from here." I mean, isn't that what the people in LA and Vegas were asking for to begin with: a HSR to connect LA and Vegas (NOT Rancho Cucamunga and Vegas)?

[pacificostudios]

Contrary to some comments below, Metrolink owns a lot of track in Los Angeles and Orange Counties. The San Bernardino line through El Monte and Claremont is the former Pacific Electric San Bernardino line, and the rest, including the Rancho Cucamonga station, is the former Santa Fe passenger mainline. Unfortunately, there isn't room along most of the ex-PE line for more than one track. Hopefully, Brightline West spurs extension of the Line A light rail line to Claremont and Rancho Cucamonga, which currently ends at Azusa. Nearly all of Line A, from Los Angeles to Azusa, is the former Santa Fe passenger mainline.

Metrolink takes about 74 minutes to go from Los Angeles to Rancho Cucamonga, but Metro's Line A provides good connections to places like Pasadena, and even downtown Los Angeles. The Metrolink ticket is $8.00 one-way, compared to $1.75 on Metro.

[utuber]

perhaps because (with apologies to Mel Blanc) Anaheim and Azusa have uninteresting names

[adimart]

YES YES YES, this is why President Biden deserves another 4 years, for helping us Californians and Nevadans, giving us prosperity and growing our economy. We were chosen to be the first to host true high speed rail.

[goldenstatedepartures]

There's no luggage service on Metrolink

[nvmcrider]

Will a ticket on brightline be cheaper than flying? Why can’t Las Vegas build a railway from the airport to the strip? How will people get to the strip from the brightline station?

[Sofiasart]

You can travel through most of Europe on train. UEROPE!! We are so far behind. We need this. Next, they need to expand this to Arizona, NEW Mexico, etc…

[mikeem]

Just as long as we establish that any speed below 125mph is not "High-Speed".

[floydjohnson]

As a Chicago-area transplant to the Northeast Corridor, I stand flabbergasted.
Seems there's a lot to still be worked out regarding LA's Metrolink, while between NYC and DC, mass-transit systems almost (understatement?) run together.

[Wingcake]

Cant wait to see the videos on why brightline west failed and the main point being too expensive to not even get to downtown being the main one.