The nation’s first “true” high-speed rail line is officially under construction following a kickoff ceremony in Las Vegas.
Brightline West intends to build the $12 billion line running between the Southern Nevada city and metro Los Angeles, officials hope, over the next five years. The Associated Press reports that the price tag is set to include some $3 billion in federal infrastructure funding and approval for the sale of a combined $3.5 billion in tax-exempt bonds.
A First-of-Its-Kind Project
Brightline’s sister company already operates a rail line in South Florida, but the California line would be the first of its kind in the U.S.: one reminiscent of the bullet trains speeding through Europe or Japan. Its speeds of more than 186 miles per hour would be about as fast as the Shinkansen trains in Japan.
The electric trains would roughly follow the course of Interstate 15 for 218 miles across the Mojave Desert between a forthcoming rail terminal in Las Vegas and stations near Victorville, California, and in Rancho Cucamonga, California. The Rancho Cucamonga station, in turn, would connect to a commuter rail line to Los Angeles.
High-Speed Rail Line Will Cut the Trip in Half
The trip would cost about the same as an airline ticket and take just more than two hours — about half the time needed to drive that span without accounting for any traffic delays.
Officials estimate that it would accommodate 11 million one-way passengers. In addition to easing traffic congestion along I-15, the project could slash vehicle emissions while reportedly creating thousands of construction jobs.
The Birth of a New Industry: High-Speed Rail
Brightline officials told the AP that the groundbreaking heralded the birth of an entirely new domestic high-speed rail industry, serving routes between cities that can be too long to drive and too short for flights.
The Acela, an Amtrak route between Washington, D.C., and Boston, reportedly tops out at about 150 miles per hour, but other proposed high-speed lines — including an embattled one between Los Angeles and San Francisco — have been plagued by delays in recent years.
High-Speed RailLaunching in Time for the Summer 2028 Olympics
Organizers hope to begin trips along the line in 2028 — just in time for that year’s Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
Image Credit: Marta Lavandier / AP file
