CALIFORNIA, USA — Construction began Monday on a high speed rail line that will connect Southern California and Las Vegas in time for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
Praised as one of the greenest types of transportation across the country, Brightline West will cut trips from 3-4 hours by car down to two hours by train.
The zero emission, electric trains travel at nearly 200 miles an hour. They will run on a 218-mile rail line along I-15.
The rail line will include a stop in Rancho Cucamonga, and that stop will connect to existing transportation into Downtown L.A. and L.A., Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties, according to Brightline. The station in Vegas will be near the Las Vegas Strip.
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg attended the groundbreaking and applauded the creation of green transportation along with thousands of jobs.
“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,” said Secretary Buttigieg. “Partnering with state leaders and Brightline West, we’re writing a new chapter in our country’s transportation story that includes thousands of union jobs, new connections to better economic opportunity, less congestion on the roads, and less pollution in the air.”
The U.S. Department of Transportation expects the construction project to create 35,000 jobs, expand tourism, ease traffic and cut more than 400,000 tons of carbon pollution every year.
The project received $3 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill and another $3.5 billion in private funding through the U.S. Department of Transportation, according to Brightline.
"Brightline West is a watershed project for high-speed rail in America and will establish the foundation for the creation of a new industry and supply chain," the company said in a release.
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