On April 22, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and representatives from high-speed train developers Brightline Holdings held a groundbreaking ceremony in Las Vegas for a long-awaited railway project connecting Las Vegas and Southern California.
The $12 billion project has been in the works for several years, but really gained traction when it was taken over by Brightline’s sister company, Brightline West, in 2019.
All the necessary licensing, labor agreements and environmental permits have been completed, and last December the railway received a $3 billion grant from the Biden administration. Brightline has also been authorized to issue a total of $3.5 billion in tax-exempt bonds since 2020.
Current projections estimate the high-speed trains could begin operating as soon as 2028, in time for that year’s Olympic games in Los Angeles.
“People have been dreaming of high-speed rail in America for decades,” Buttigieg said at the ceremony, according to the Associated Press. “It’s really happening this time.”
The project will include a total 218 miles of tracks, most of which will be constructed in the median of Interstate 15 from Las Vegas to Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. From there, the line will link to commuter lines to downtown Los Angeles, and another stop is planned in the Victorville area.
At the ceremony, Brighline founder Wes Edens said that the project will represent “the birth of an industry of high-speed rail,” per the AP.
The trains are expected to reach speeds of up to 186 miles per hour, cutting the four-hour trip to approximately two hours. Fare will be comparable to existing airline rates, and the company is projecting 11 million one-way passengers in the first year.
Traffic reduction along the route is among the biggest goals of the project, as data from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority says that in 2023, the daily average of automobiles crossing California-Nevada state lines was 44,000.
