Federal, transportation and union leaders gathered in Las Vegas Monday to drive spikes into a symbolic rail, marking the beginning of construction for a $12 billion high-speed rail line that will link Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area.
“People have been dreaming of high-speed rail in America for decades,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Monday ahead of the groundbreaking ceremony. “It’s really happening this time.”
Brightline West, the only private passenger rail company operating high-speed service in the country, is expected to build a 218-mile intercity passenger rail system between Las Vegas and Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., where it would connect with Los Angeles’s existing regional rail system.
Buttigieg on Monday touted the Biden administration’s support for the project, noting it will bring thousands of union jobs and help local economies, The Associated Press reported.
The project is estimated to cost about $12 billion — $3 billion of which the Biden administration greenlighted last year.
The trip is expected to take slightly longer than two hours, with trains traveling as fast as 180 mph. This will be nearly twice as fast as driving.
Advocates for the project hope the rail line will lessen transportation costs and reduce traffic and emissions. An estimated 16 million people drive from Las Vegas toward Southern California on Interstate 15 every year through the Mojave Desert.
Brightline estimated the project could slash 3 million car trips every year. The company is hoping construction will be done in time for the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028.
“I believe we’ll look back at today and say, ’This was the birth of an industry of high-speed rail,’” Brightline Holdings founder Wes Edens said Monday, per the AP.
Brightline, which is based in Florida, launched a high-speed Orlando to Miami service, the first of its kind, last year. These trains can reach speeds up to 125 mph and offer 16 round-trips per day, the news wire reported.