Last week, Dept. of Transportation officials celebrated the groundbreaking of America’s first high-speed rail line between LA and Las Vegas.
The Brightline West will travel at 320 kilometers per hour or around 200 mph, which for American readers is standard for high-speed rail around the world.
Expected to be finished in four years, Brightline is envisioned as being a crucial piece of tourist infrastructure for the upcoming 2028 Summer Olympics.
Fortress Investment Group has gathered $9 billion in financing for the project, but is being helped with a $3 billion grant from the Biden Administration’s infrastructure funding bill.
“This is a historic project and a proud moment where we break ground on America’s first high-speed rail system and lay the foundation for a new industry,” said Wes Edens, Brightline founder at the groundbreaking ceremony where in place of a ribbon, project leaders pounded miniature nails into miniature railroad track.
“Today is long overdue, but the blueprint we’ve created with Brightline will allow us to repeat this model in other city pairs around the country.”
Brightline is expected to serve 11 million passengers every year running alongside US Interstate 15, which can be hindered by weekend traffic jams. In a typical year, 50 million passenger vehicles make the trip between these two iconic cities, and estimates place the number of total vehicle miles that will be saved at around 700 million.
Fortress Investment claims that 400,000 tonnes of CO2 will be eliminated for every year that Brightline West is in operation.
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The state-of-the-art, all-electric trains enriched with amenities will offer Americans what Asians and Europeans have enjoyed for decades.
This high-speed railway line is the second that Brightline as a firm will operate, having opened a modern luxury connection between Orlando and Miami in 2018.
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