A high-speed rail link planned between Los Angeles and Las Vegas has gone off the rails – at least until business confidence returns.
Fortress Investment Group says it has suspended fundraising efforts for the Brightline West project linking the cities.
Fortress was seeking to raise $3.2 billion for tax-free private activity bonds authorized by California and Nevada, and later downgraded that to $2.4 billion due to lack of interest.
"Unfortunately, there is not a lot of liquidity in the market and a lot of economic uncertainty at this moment," California Treasurer Fiona Ma told Bloomberg News.
"The project is postponed until market liquidity improves."
That puts a halt on construction starting which was originally planned to start in late 2020.
Brightline said it is fully committed to the project and it would continue, but hasn’t given a timeline.
Written by Ray Montgomery, US Editor
