Representatives from DesertXpress—a proposed high-speed rail line between Southern California and Las Vegas—and Los Angeles Metro met June 7 to sign documents agreeing to strategize on ways to build a 50-mile line between Victorville and Palmdale, CA, eventually extending service to Los Angeles. This line would connect to Metrolink commuter rail and later to California’s high-speed rail network.

Following the announcement, the DesertXpress project was renamed “XpressWest” to more accurately reflect its role as the first leg of a larger western high speed rail passenger network.

XpressWest is a private venture that ultimately aims to build a 185-mile high-speed rail line that will operate on exclusive, new double track. Built primarily within or adjacent to the I-15 freeway, the high-speed rail line will have no at-grade crossings with vehicle or pedestrian traffic. Plans call for the service to operate with fully electric, next generation 150 mph high-speed trains.

The company has submitted a Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing loan application to the Federal Railroad Administration for evaluation.

“In the next decades, the I-15 corridor between LA and Las Vegas will only become more congested,” Lewis Goetz, founder of the American High Speed Rail Alliance, said of XpressWest’s plans. “Connecting DesertXpress with California’s proposed high-speed rail network is a smart move that will only enhance passenger comfort and ridership.”