Coachella Valley Rail: Route, Stations and Timeline

A proposed 144-mile rail corridor from Los Angeles to Coachella has entered detailed development. Here is what is approved, where it could stop, what $80.69 million funds, and why 2040 remains only a target.

Last Updated: August 18, 2026 | Time to Read: 25 minutes | Author: Mark Miller | Category: Things To Know

Coachella Valley Rail is more real than it has been in decades—but it is not a coming-soon train. The broad Los Angeles-to-Coachella corridor cleared its first major environmental stage in 2022, and in January 2026 the Riverside County Transportation Commission approved a contract worth up to $80.69 million to move into detailed station, environmental and engineering work.

That is a meaningful advance. It shifts the project from a line on a regional map toward the site-specific decisions needed to make it engineerable, permit-ready and competitive for construction funding. It does not mean the train is fully funded, the stations are final or construction has begun.

Coachella Valley Rail, often shortened to CV Rail, is a proposal for regular intercity passenger service between Los Angeles Union Station and Coachella. The approximately 144-mile route would cross Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties on an existing rail corridor used in different sections by passenger and freight trains.

The proposal is conventional intercity rail. It is not California High-Speed Rail, light rail or a Metrolink extension. Current planning assumes a maximum speed of 79 mph and a shared corridor involving Los Angeles Metro, BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad. Those ownership and operating relationships are central to whether a reliable passenger schedule can ultimately be built.

In 2022, federal and state agencies completed the Tier 1, or program-level, environmental process. That decision selected the broad corridor and service concept. Tier 1 did not approve every station parcel, bridge, track improvement or construction package. The current work is intended to answer those more detailed questions.

From Los Angeles Union Station, the selected route would travel through Fullerton and Riverside, continue to Colton, then turn east through the San Gorgonio Pass and the Coachella Valley. The full concept ends in Coachella, roughly three miles beyond Indio.

Existing western stations: Los Angeles Union Station, Fullerton and Riverside–Downtown.

Eastern study areas: Loma Linda/Redlands, the San Gorgonio Pass, Palm Springs, Mid-Valley, Indio and Coachella.

Maximum concept: up to nine stops, including the existing Palm Springs station assumption and five new eastern station areas.

The route mostly reuses an active railroad alignment. That reduces the need for an entirely new 144-mile right-of-way, but it does not make the project simple. East of Colton, earlier planning contemplated roughly 76 to 78 miles of additional third-track capacity, plus bridge, signal, drainage, crossing, station and layover improvements. The exact package will be refined through current engineering and railroad analysis.

Indio’s place in the project carries unusual historical weight. The city began as a Southern Pacific railroad water stop in 1876, so a future passenger station would represent a new chapter in the transportation story that originally created Indio.

The distinction matters: a city-preferred candidate shows local preparation and advocacy, but it is not the same as a station selected through RCTC’s project-level process.

The existing Palm Springs Amtrak station sits in North Palm Springs, away from downtown and Palm Springs International Airport. It currently serves limited long-distance trains at inconvenient hours. A future daily corridor service could be much more useful, but only if the station location and connecting transit make sense for residents, workers and visitors.

The Mid-Valley choice may be equally consequential. Palm Desert’s preferred local candidate near Cook Street, the Cal State San Bernardino Palm Desert Campus and Acrisure Arena offers a clear destination cluster, but RCTC must compare it with other central-valley possibilities using rail operations, ridership, access, environmental effects, cost and community goals.

On January 29, 2026, RCTC approved an HDR Engineering agreement with a base value of $74,876,354 and $5,816,391 in contingency, for a not-to-exceed total of $80,692,745. Calling it an $80 million environmental study is understandable, but the scope is broader—and the authorization is phased.

• Update the Federal Railroad Administration Service Development Plan.
• Compare station locations and prepare conceptual station layouts.
• Advance preliminary engineering and define the project footprint.
• Conduct California environmental work and prepare for the later federal process.
• Coordinate with host railroads, public agencies, tribal governments and local communities.
• Refine costs, risks, funding strategy, schedule and construction phasing.

The second portion would include project-level federal environmental review and design development to roughly 30 percent for relevant elements. It requires additional RCTC authorization and progress through the federal Corridor ID program. In other words, the full two-part scope was contracted, but the later work was not automatically released when the agreement was approved.

The essential distinction: the $80.69 million develops the project. It does not build the railroad.

RCTC’s January 2026 brief says the overall capital program will likely exceed $1.5 billion. That is still a broad planning statement, not a final construction estimate. Final design, construction, equipment and long-term operating funding remain to be assembled.

Type: conventional intercity passenger rail on a shared corridor.

Top speed under study: up to 79 mph; that is not the average speed.

Frequency: the 2022 Tier 1 concept assumed two daily round trips, while newer RCTC planning describes an initial range of two to five.

Travel time: Tier 1 modeled about 3 hours 16 minutes from Los Angeles Union Station to Coachella. Newer planning uses a broader 3-to-3.5-hour Los Angeles-to-Indio range.

Fare, operator and equipment: not final. Amtrak was an analytical assumption in earlier work, not a confirmed operator selection.

Those travel-time figures are planning estimates, not a published timetable. They also describe station-to-station travel rather than the full door-to-door trip. A rider’s real experience will depend on the final station location, train schedule, local connections and how easily they can reach the platform at each end.

Palm Springs already has limited long-distance Amtrak service through the Sunset Limited/Texas Eagle. CV Rail would be a different product: regular regional intercity service with multiple Southern California stops and, ideally, daytime schedules designed around local travel rather than a cross-country timetable.

The project’s current development horizon is measured in years, not months. The consultant’s draft schedule runs through approximately April 2032, while the agreement’s outside term extends to December 2032 unless amended.

2022: Tier 1 environmental review selected the broad corridor and program concept.

2023–2024: FRA selected the corridor for its Corridor ID program and obligated up to $500,000 for Step 1.

January 2026: RCTC approved the $80.69 million two-part project-development agreement and authorized Part A.

2026–approximately 2029: station analysis, service-plan work, state environmental studies, preliminary engineering and engagement.

Approximately 2029–2032: conditional federal project-level review and design development, if the required approvals are secured.

After 2032: remaining funding, final design, railroad agreements, property and utility work, construction, testing and launch.

RCTC says service may begin by 2040, depending on funding, final design and construction. That wording matters. The year 2040 is a conditional planning target—not a promised opening date—and delays in federal progression, railroad agreements, environmental work or capital funding could push service later.

Freight-Rail Capacity and Agreements

Passenger trains would share one of Southern California’s most important freight corridors. The San Gorgonio Pass includes grades, heavy freight movements and operating constraints that make predictable passenger slots difficult. BNSF and Union Pacific agreements will have to address capacity, dispatching, infrastructure ownership, maintenance, liability and performance standards.

A Capital Program Larger Than the Study Contract

A project expected to exceed $1.5 billion will require a coordinated federal, state and regional funding package. Corridor ID improves the project’s development path and future grant position, but it is not a construction award. The latest public FRA obligation report available for this review showed Coachella Valley Rail at Step 1, with no Step 2 or Step 3 obligation listed.

Environmental and Community Questions

Following an existing railroad reduces some right-of-way challenges, but it does not eliminate local impacts. The project still needs site-specific review of noise, vibration, air quality, drainage, floodplains, habitat, cultural and tribal resources, crossings, property needs, station traffic and construction beside active tracks.

RCTC is sponsoring Assembly Bill 1855, which would broaden a state environmental exemption for certain passenger-rail projects. As of August 18, 2026, the bill remained active in the Assembly Natural Resources Committee and had not become law. Even if enacted and applicable, it would not supply funding, select stations, replace federal environmental requirements or settle railroad agreements.

The First and Last Mile

A station can be close to the tracks and still be difficult to use. Eastern stations will need useful bus and shuttle connections, shade, safe walking and cycling routes, ADA access, parking, ride-hail space and schedules that connect with both directions of train service. Those details will determine whether CV Rail becomes a practical regional option or a trip that still requires a car at both ends.

If delivered with useful schedules and connections, CV Rail could give valley residents and visitors another way to reach Los Angeles, Orange County, the Inland Empire and the national rail network. It could expand access to employment, education, health care, tourism and family travel while reducing some automobile trips.

The practical value will vary by station. A Palm Springs-area stop still needs a reliable connection to downtown and the airport. A Mid-Valley station needs to serve multiple cities and major destinations rather than only the nearest parcel. Indio and Coachella need clear links between trains, downtown districts and local transit. Festival trips would still require shuttles because the rail corridor does not enter the Empire Polo Club.

Station planning may also influence zoning, streets, transit routes, public investment and interest in nearby development. That does not justify claims that a particular parcel will be selected or that nearby real estate is guaranteed to appreciate. Until sites and funding are final, the responsible way to describe these areas is by their current level of certainty: existing station, broad study area, city-preferred candidate or final agency selection.

1. A defensible shortlist of eastern station alternatives.
2. An updated Service Development Plan that clarifies frequency, travel time, ridership, costs, fleet needs and phasing.
3. Progress from FRA Corridor ID Step 1 into the later development steps.
4. A future RCTC decision on whether to authorize Part B.
5. Updated operating simulations and agreements with BNSF and Union Pacific.
6. A refined capital cost and a credible funding plan for final design and construction.
7. Clear first- and last-mile commitments from station communities and transit providers.

Coachella Valley Rail is more real than it was before the 2026 contract, but its next meaningful proof points are not renderings or aspirational dates. They are station recommendations, an updated service plan, federal progression, railroad agreements, a refined cost and money to build.

If those pieces align, a Los Angeles-to-Coachella train around 2040 is conceivable. Until they do, 2040 belongs on the page with a question mark.

Continue exploring: Coachella Valley Atlas