FRESNO, CA (KMJ) High speed rail linking Las Vegas and Los Angeles has received a $3 billion investment from the Biden administration.
Brightline, a private passenger rail company will operate the line.
President Biden is reportedly expected to make the official announcement in Las Vegas on Friday.
The Brightline West project is planned to run from a new station near the Las Vegas Strip to Rancho Cucamonga. The trip would take just under 3 hours.
According to Brightline, trains will travel as fast as 180 miles per hour and carry about 500 passengers as frequently as every 45 minutes.
Construction is expected to be completed in 2027, just in time for the 2028 Summer Olympics in LA.
The project estimates that it will remove 3 million cars from the I-15 annually, reducing more than 400,000 tons of carbon emissions every year and creating 35,000 union jobs.
Following the announcement, Brightline West released a statement about the historic project, saying. “We’re honored and humbled in the confidence President Biden, Secretary Buttigieg, Senator Rosen, and so many others have placed in Brightline’s vision to bring true high-speed rail to America. This is a historic moment that will serve as a foundation for a new industry and a remarkable project that will serve as the blueprint for how we can repeat this model throughout the country. We’re ready to get to work to bring our vision of American-made, American-built, world-class, state-of-the-art high-speed train travel to America.”
“This historic high-speed rail project will be a game changer for Nevada’s tourism economy and transportation,” Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) said in a statement. “It’ll bring more visitors to our state, reduce traffic on the I-15, create thousands of good paying jobs, and decrease carbon emissions, all while relying on local union labor.”
