When completed, the Brightline West high-speed rail is expected to make the trip Las Vegas and Southern California in about two hours.

Private-equity bonds would boost 218-mile Brightline West project that is expected to break ground early next year.

The grant awards include $3.1 billion for the California High-Speed Rail Authority and $3 billion for the Brightline West linking Southern California to Las Vegas.

The high-speed rail project backers have applied for a $3.7B in federal funds to underwrite the effort. 

Brightline West officials say work on the $10\-billion project could begin later this year.

Owner Brightline West says it expects to announce contractors for the project sometime later this year.

Focused funding program, private investment are touted as key to development.

Reininger suggests federal reforms and changes to encourage more private investment.

Brightline West, developer of the proposed $8-billion high-speed train between Southern California and Las Vegas—a project that has been on financial hold since last fall—now says the project is back on track.

The ultra-fast train would cut travel times between L.A. and Las Vegas in half, but a failed bond sale in the midst of a skeptical financial market has put the project on indefinite hold.