A Bright Line train photographed at a station in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on January 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)
LAS VEGAS (AP) – A $12 billion high-speed passenger rail line starting construction between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area says millions of ticket buyers will be riding the train by 2028. In the forecast, officials announced on Monday.
“For decades, people have dreamed of America's high-speed rail,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement on the sidelines of a ceremony at the proposed terminal site just south of the Las Vegas Strip. said.
Buttigieg predicted the project would bring “thousands of union jobs, new connections to better economic opportunities, less congestion on our roads, and less air pollution.”
Its sister company, Brightline West, already operates high-speed trains between Miami and Orlando, Fla., and has a new 218-mile (351-kilometer) line between Las Vegas and another new facility in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. The aim is to lay a railway line. The line will be constructed almost entirely in the median of Interstate 15, with stations in the Victorville area of San Bernardino County.
Wes Edens, founder and chairman of Brightline Holdings, called this moment “the foundation of a new industry.”
“This is a historic project and a proud moment,” Edens said in a statement. “Today is the first time in a while.”
Brightline aims to connect other U.S. cities that are either too close to fly or too far to drive.
The company's CEO, Mike Reiner, said the goal is to have the trains running in time for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
Brightline has received $6.5 billion in support from the Biden administration, including a $3 billion grant from federal infrastructure funds and authorization to sell an additional $2.5 billion in tax-exempt bonds. The company won federal approval to sell $1 billion in similar bonds in 2020.
The project is being touted as the country's first true high-speed passenger rail, designed to reach speeds of 186 miles per hour (300 kilometers per hour), comparable to Japan's bullet trains.
The route between Las Vegas and Los Angeles is largely open space, and there are no convenient alternatives to Interstate 15. Brightline's Southern California terminal will be located at the commuter rail connection to downtown Los Angeles.
According to the project overview, the electric train will cut a four-hour trip across the Mojave Desert to just over two hours. Annual one-way passenger numbers are projected at 11 million, or about 30,000 per day, with fares well below airline travel costs. The trains have rest rooms, Wi-Fi, food and beverage sales, and luggage storage options.
Las Vegas is a popular driving destination for Southern Californians. Officials hope the line will ease congestion on Interstate 15. Drivers often sit in miles of traffic when returning home from a weekend in Las Vegas.
The Las Vegas region now has a population approaching 3 million and receives more than 40 million visitors annually. According to the Las Vegas Tourism Association, passenger traffic at the city's Harry Reid International Airport set a record of 57.6 million in 2023. An average of more than 44,000 cars per day crossed the California-Nevada border on Interstate 15 in 2023, according to the Las Vegas Tourism Authority. data.
Florida-based Brightline Holdings launched a Miami-Orlando train service in 2018, with trains reaching speeds of up to 125 miles per hour (200 kilometers per hour). Last September, it expanded service to Orlando International Airport. There are 16 round trips per day, and a one-way ticket for a distance of 235 miles (378 kilometers) costs approximately $80.
Other high-speed trains in the United States include Amtrak's Acela, which can reach speeds of over 150 miles per hour (241 kilometers per hour) while sharing tracks with freight and commuter trains between Boston and Washington, DC.
Passenger trains to Las Vegas were discontinued in 1997, and Amtrak ended the service called Desert Wind. The idea for a bullet train to Los Angeles dates back to at least 2005 under various names, including DesertXpress.
Brightline West acquired rights to the project in 2019, finalized right-of-way and environmental approvals, and reached a collective agreement.
In recent years, the idea of connecting other U.S. cities with high-speed passenger trains, from Dallas to Houston, has been floated. From Atlanta to Charlotte, North Carolina. And from Chicago to St. Louis. Most are facing delays.
In California, voters in 2008 approved a 500-mile (805-kilometer) rail plan to connect Los Angeles and San Francisco, but the project has been plagued by rising costs and disputes over the route. The California High Speed Rail Authority's 2022 business plan predicted costs would more than triple to $105 billion.
