That's right! Florida-based Brightline got a final private activity bond allocation needed to build its high-speed ... [+] Brightline
XpressWest, a high-speed rail line that will connect Southern California to Las Vegas, won $200 million of private activity bonds from Nevada, a critical final public allocation that allows the company owned by Wall Street investor Wes Edens to raise an additional $800 million for the project.
Los Angeles-To-Las Vegas High-Speed Train Wins $200 Million Nevada Bond Allocation
“This plan creates jobs without using taxpayer dollars and without impacting our state's ability to finance future projects, and will allow a new, convenient mode of transportation between Nevada and California,” Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak said. XpressWest says the project will create a total of 30,000 construction jobs and 1,000 permanent jobs in the neighboring states once the line is up and running in a few years.
“The lack of passenger travel by train in this country is a travesty,” Edens told Forbes early this year.
“It’s a gigantic opportunity.”
Construction is to start late this year and the company estimates it will attract 10 million riders annually.
“Large-scale construction projects are a critical piece of rebuilding our economy, and private activity bonds are a perfect mechanism to incentivize the private sector to deliver public benefits,” said Sarah Watterson, chief development officer for XpressWest.
Private activity bonds, created by the federal government for high-cost infrastructure projects, are tax-exempt but do not use public funds."
