Brightline West, a future electric high-speed rail line between Las Vegas and Los Angeles, launched today in Nevada.
On December 6, 2023, Electricity reported that the Biden administration has awarded Brightline West $3 billion in funding. The money was part of the $6 billion previously earmarked for high-speed rail, and came from the Biden administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law as part of the Federal-State Partnership Program. (The remaining $3 billion will go to the Los Angeles-San Francisco public high-speed rail project, where more than 100 miles of high-speed rail are under construction.)
Brightline West will be a private, all-electric, 220-mile high-speed rail line, including a flagship station in Las Vegas (pictured above), with additional stations in Apple Valley, Hesperia and Rancho Cucamonga. At speeds of more than 200 miles per hour, trains take passengers from Las Vegas to Rancho Cucamonga, 37 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, in just 2 hours and 10 minutes – twice as fast as normal driving time.
Florida-based Brightline Holdings is expected to model the Las Vegas-LA rail line on the high-speed route between Miami and Orlando – the only privately owned intercity passenger rail line in the US.
Brightline West estimates it will remove 3 million cars from I-15 annually, reducing CO2 emissions by more than 400,000 metric tons annually. It also expects to create an astonishing 35,000 union jobs. Federal funding will allow construction to begin on the project, which is scheduled to open in 2028.
Rick Harnish, executive director of the national nonprofit High Speed Rail Alliance, said today:
This is a transformational investment in American trains.
The introduction of a high-speed rail line this decade will show Americans this great way to travel. If you’ve ever felt frustrated by a traffic jam or problems at the airport, a better future just got closer.
Read more: The US’s busiest rail corridor just got a $16.4 billion boost – and that’s huge
Photos: Brightline West
To limit power outages and make your home more resilient, consider going solar with a battery storage system. To find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, visit EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy to switch to solar energy. They have hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, so you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use and you won’t receive sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with him or her.
You can easily compare your personalized solar quotes online and get access to impartial energy advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here. – advertisement*
FTC: We use monetized auto-affiliate links. More.
