Construction work on the high-speed train from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, valued at $12,000 million dollars, officially startedofficials reported this Monday.
In a statement, US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said that people have been dreaming of a high-speed train in the countrywhich coincided with a ceremony at the site where the terminal will be built south of the city of Las Vegas.
Buttigieg anticipated that the project will generate thousands of unionized jobsnew connections for better economic conditions, fewer traffic jams on the highways and less environmental pollution.
Keep reading: Los Angeles to Las Vegas high-speed rail project will hire 11,000 workers
The first construction works will be held in Las VegasSnowfall.
The Brightline West company, which already operates a high-speed train between Miami and Orlando, Florida, intends to install 218 miles of railroad tracks between Las Vegas and Rancho Cucamongain San Bernardino County, with a link to Los Angeles.
It is planned to build almost the entire road in the median of Interstate 15with a stop in the Victorville area, also in San Bernardino County.
Keep reading: $3 billion in federal funds receives Los Angeles to Las Vegas train project
Brightline Holdings Founder and Chairman Wes Edens He described this moment as “the foundation of a new industry”.
“This is a historic project and a moment of pride. Today is something that should have been done a long time ago,” said Edens.
Brightline CEO Mike Reininger said the goal is to get trains in service on time. for the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028.
For this Proyect, Brightline received $6.5 billion in support from the Biden administrationwhich includes a $3 billion grant of federal infrastructure funds and approval for another $2.5 billion in tax-exempt bonds.
The company obtained federal authorization in 2020 to sell $1 billion in similar bonds.
The project is announced as the first real high-speed train in the United Stateswith units designed to reach speeds of 186 miles per hour, which would be comparable to that reached by Japan’s Shinkansen bullet trains.
Keep reading: Company plans overnight first-class train service between Los Angeles and San Francisco
The route between Las Vegas and Los Angeles It is largely an open spacewith no better alternative to Interstate 15.
The high-speed rail terminal in Rancho Cucamonga will be connected by intercity train to downtown Los Angeles.
Brightline West electric trains are expected to reduce the four-hour road trip between Rancho Cucamonga and Las Vegas just over two hours.
Keep reading: Brightline plans to build a train line to link Southern California with Las Vegas
The forecasts They estimate around 11 million passengers a yearor about 30,000 passengers per day, with fares well below airline travel costs.
On the trains, travelers will have Wi-Fi service, toiletssale of food and drinks, with the option of checking luggage.
For Southern California residents, the city of Las Vegas is a popular driving destination, so it is expected that the train will relieve the vehicular load on I-15where motorists often find themselves in miles of slow-moving traffic as they return home after a weekend in Gaming City.
According to data from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, an average of more than 44,000 vehicles per day crossed the border between the states of California and Nevada during 2023.
In 2018, Brightline Holdings launched the Miami to Orlando line with trains reaching speeds of up to 125 miles per hourand in September of last year service was expanded to Orlando International Airport.
Offers 16 round trips per day, with tickets for the distance of 235 miles with a cost of about $80 dollars.
Passenger trains to Las Vegas ended in 1997when Amtrak left the service called Desert Wind.
The idea of a bullet train from Los Angeles to Las Vegas dates back to at least 2005.. Brightline West acquired the rights to the project in 2019, obtaining environmental and right-of-way approvals, as well as labor agreements with unions.
Keep reading:
· Construction of high-speed train between Southern California and Las Vegas on Interstate 15 approved
· High-speed train: what we know about its construction
· Trump wants California to return $2.5 billion for high-speed rail