A Nevada company that wants to build a multi-billion-dollar high-speed passenger railway linking Las Vegas and Southern California has broken ties with a Chinese firm that it had said would help.

XpressWest in Las Vegas says it terminated a joint venture with China Railway International, a company formed last August for the effort.

An XpressWest representative didn't immediately respond Thursday to questions.

A company statement issued Wednesday said the Chinese company had trouble meeting performance deadlines and faced challenges obtaining the required authority to take part.

The project hasn't broken ground., But it has regulatory approval to cover about 190 miles from Las Vegas to the Mojave Desert city of Victorville, California.

That's about 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles.

Cost estimates for the project have topped $7 billion.