2024-04-23 07:04:00
LAS VEGAS — A $12 billion high-speed passenger rail line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area has begun construction, officials said Monday, amid predictions that millions of ticket buyers will board trains by 2028.
“People have dreamed of high-speed rail in America for decades,” US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement released to coincide with a ceremony at the future site of a terminal that just will be built south of the Las Vegas strip.
Buttigieg predicted the project would bring “thousands of union jobs, new connections with better economic opportunities, less congestion on the roads and less pollution in the air.”
Brightline West, whose sister company already operates high-speed trains between Miami and Orlando, Florida, intends to lay 218 miles of new track between Las Vegas and another new facility in Rancho Cucamonga, California. Almost the full distance will be in the median of Interstate 15, with a station stop in San Bernardino County’s Victorville area.
Wes Edens, founder and chairman of Brightline Holdings, called the moment “the foundation for a new industry.”
“This is a historic project and a proud moment,” Edens said in the statement. “Today is long over.”
Brightline aims to connect other US cities that are too close together for air travel to make sense and too far for people to drive the distance.
Mike Reininger, CEO of the company, said the goal is to have trains running in time for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
Brightline received $6.5 billion in support from the Biden administration, including a $3 billion grant of federal infrastructure funds and approval to sell another $2.5 billion in tax-exempt bonds. The company received federal authorization to sell $1 billion in similar bonds in 2020.
The project is touted as the first true high-speed passenger rail line in the country, designed to reach speeds of 186 mph, comparable to Japan’s Shinkansen bullet trains.
The route between Vegas and LA is largely open space, with no convenient alternative to I-15. Brightline’s terminal in Southern California will be at a commuter rail link to downtown Los Angeles.
The project outline says electric-powered trains will cut the four-hour trip across the Mojave Desert to just over two hours. Forecasts are for 11 million one-way passengers per year, or about 30,000 per day, with fares well below airline travel costs. The trains will offer rest rooms, Wi-Fi, food and beverage sales and the option to check baggage.
Las Vegas is a popular driving destination for Southern Californians. Officials hope the train line will ease congestion on I-15, where drivers often sit in miles of crawling traffic as they return home from a Las Vegas weekend.
The Las Vegas area, now approaching 3 million residents, attracts more than 40 million visitors a year. Passenger traffic at the city’s Harry Reid International Airport is set to reach a record 57.6 million people in 2023. An average of more than 44,000 cars per day crossed the California-Nevada state line on I-15 in 2023, according to Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority data.
Florida-based Brightline Holdings launched the Miami-to-Orlando line in 2018 with trains reaching speeds of up to 125 mph. It expanded service to Orlando International Airport last September. It offers 16 round trips per day, with one-way tickets for the 235-mile distance costing about $80.
Other high-speed trains in the US include Amtrak’s Acela, which can reach 150 mph while sharing tracks with freight and commuter service between Boston and Washington, DC
Passenger trains to Las Vegas ended in 1997, when Amtrak discontinued service, it was called the Desert Wind. The idea of a bullet train to Los Angeles dates back to at least 2005 under various names, including DesertXpress.
In 2019, Brightline West acquired rights to the project, consolidated right-of-way and environmental approvals and reached labor agreements.
Ideas for connecting other US cities with high-speed passenger trains have been floated in recent years, including Dallas to Houston; Atlanta to Charlotte, North Carolina; and Chicago to St. Most experienced delays.
In California, voters approved a proposed 500-mile rail line connecting Los Angeles and San Francisco in 2008, but the plan has been plagued by rising costs and route disputes. A 2022 business plan by the California High-Speed Rail Authority projected the cost to more than triple to $105 billion.
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