High-speed rail system from Las Vegas to Southern California breaks ground

Officials
broke
ground
Monday
on
a
new
high-speed
rail
system
that
will
connect
Southern
California
and
Las
Vegas.

The

Brightline
West
system
will
average
speeds
of
about
115
miles
per
hour
and
reach
a
top
speed
of
around
200
mph,
comparable
to
other
high-speed
systems
around
the
world.
The
Eurostar
between
London
and
Paris
averages
speeds
of
about
150
mph
and
tops
out
at
around
200
mph.
Amtrak’s
current
Acela
line
from
Boston
to
Washington,
D.C.,
travels
up
to
150
mph,
but
averages
speeds
of
just
70
mph.
Acela
has
plans
for
a
high-speed
fleet
that
will
reach
160
mph.

The
Brightline
West
system,
touted
as
the “first
true
high-speed
rail
system”
in
the
U.S.,
will
run
across
a
218-mile
route
between
Las
Vegas
and
three
California
stops
including
Rancho
Cucamonga,
about
40
miles
east
of
Los
Angeles.

The
project
received
$3
billion
in
funding
from
the

Bipartisan
Infrastructure
Law
and
the
rest
will
be
privately
funded,
according
to
the
company.

“I’m
convinced
that
the
first
time
Americans
actually
experience
American
high-speed
rail
on
U.S.
soil,
there’s
going
to
be
no
going
back
and
people
are
going
to
expect
and
demand
it
all
across
the
country,”
Transportation
Secretary

Pete
Buttigieg
said
in
a
CNBC
interview
on
Monday.

Brightline
West
aims
to
be
operational
in
2028,
when
Los
Angeles
hosts
the
Summer
Olympics.
The
train
will
get
passengers
from
Southern
California
to
Las
Vegas
in
about
two
hours,
about
half
the
driving
time
according
to
the
company.

The
project
is
expected
to
have
an
over
$10
billion
economic
impact
and
will
create
more
than
35,000
jobs
in
Nevada
and
California
during
the
construction,
according
to
the
release.

“Through
this
visionary
partnership,
we
are
going
to
create
thousands
of
jobs,
bring
critical
transportation
infrastructure
to
the
West,
and
create
an
innovative,
fast,
and
sustainable
transportation
solution,”
Nevada
Gov.

Joe
Lombardo
said
in
a
statement
Monday.

Brightline’s
first
rail
system
launched
in

Florida
and
the
route
spans
between
Miami
and
Orlando.
Trains
reach
speeds
of
up
to
125
mph,
connecting
the
two
cities
in
about
3.5
hours.

“People
have
been
dreaming
of
high-speed
rail
in
America
for
decades
—
and
now,
with
billions
of
dollars
of
support
made
possible
by
President
Biden’s
historic
infrastructure
law,
it’s
finally
happening,”

Buttigieg
said
in
the
release.