Work is set to begin Monday on a $12 billion high-speed passenger rail line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area, with officials projecting millions of ticket-buyers will be boarding trains by 2028.
Brightline West, whose sister company already operates a fast train between Miami and Orlando in Florida, aims to lay 218 miles (351 kilometers) of new track between a terminal to be built just south of the Las Vegas Strip and another new facility in Rancho Cucamonga, California. Almost the full distance is to be built in the median of Interstate 15, with a station stop in San Bernardino County’s Victorville area.
In a statement, Brightline Holdings founder and Chairperson Wes Edens called the moment “the foundation for a new industry.”
Brightline aims to link other U.S. cities that are too near to each other for flying between them to make sense and too far for people to drive the distance, Edens said.
At this point, we need to start somewhere. Boring under the city would be insanely expensive. Especially since this is a private company. Someday, we will have a politician with the balls to lay out a vast plan like the highway network of the 50s or the space program of the 60s. However, even babysteps like this are good.
Gotta take the W where you can and prove that HSR is a completely viable option in this country, just like literally everywhere else, haha.