Big news for Brightline! Brightline is an inter-city rail route in the United States that runs between Miami and Orlando, Florida. Part of the route runs on track owned and shared by the Florida East Coast Railway. Brightline is the only privately owned and operated intercity passenger railroad in the United States and it is expanding!
AMERICA’S FIRST HIGH-SPEED RAIL PROJECT WILL CONNECT LAS VEGAS AND SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. The Biden administration announced the US will have its first high-speed train between Los Angeles and Las Vegas in 2028.
President Joe Biden joined elected officials from Nevada and California to formally announce that the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) has received $3 billion in funding from the Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail Grant Program for Brightline West. Brightline West will connect Las Vegas and Southern California and will be the nation’s first true high-speed rail system. The project will also be the first to be built with American union labor. The fully-electric, zero-emission system will become one of the greenest forms of transportation in the U.S.
President Biden was joined by Nevada officials including Governor Joe Lombardo, Senators Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto, Representatives Dina Titus, Susie Lee and Steven Horsford. Also in attendance were representatives from the High Speed Rail Labor Coalition and the Nevada Building Trades.
‘Breakfast here in Las Vegas and lunch in L.A.’ - Biden touts LV to SoCal rail benefits
Brightline West’s modern, eco-friendly system will redefine train travel in America and connect two of the most iconic destinations: Las Vegas and Southern California. This 218-mile passenger rail service will reach speeds up to 200 mph with no grade crossings and the alignment is within the median of the I-15 highway. The system will feature three full-service stations in Las Vegas, Victor Valley and Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.
The Las Vegas station will include mobility connections and easy access to the Las Vegas Strip, the Raiders’ Allegiant Stadium and the Las Vegas Convention Center. The flagship Las Vegas station will be on 110 acres at the south end of Las Vegas Blvd. Brightline West’s California stations will include Victor Valley and Rancho Cucamonga, with direct connectivity via California Metrolink to key points in Los Angeles, such as Union Station.
Brightline West’s $12 billion project will bring widespread benefits including more than $10 billion in economic impact to Nevada and California. Economic studies show the project will create more than 35,000 (direct and indirect) jobs including 10,000 direct union construction jobs and nearly 1,000 permanent jobs for operations and maintenance. Brightline West’s investment also includes more than $800 million in roadway improvements to the I-15 corridor. Brightline West has agreements in place with several unions for the use of highly skilled union labor in critical jobs required to build, operate and maintain the project.
The project’s environmental benefits are equally impressive and designed to support Nevada and California’s climate strategies by promoting a no-emission mobility option that lowers greenhouse gasses by more than 400,000 tons of CO2 each year. The diversion of people from auto and air travel to Brightline West’s high-speed rail system reduces vehicle miles traveled by more than 700 million each year and 16,000 short haul flights annually.
The $3 billion grant award marks the largest in NDOT’s history and is the culmination of more than two decades of planning and coordination to build a high-speed rail line between Las Vegas and Southern California. NDOT, as the grant administrator, will continue to play an important oversight role as Brightline West constructs the rail system. Additionally, NDOT will be responsible for the design, construction, and oversight of any NDOT infrastructure that requires modification as a result of Brightline West’s work.
About Brightline West
Brightline is the only private provider of modern, eco-friendly, intercity passenger rail service in America – offering a guest-first experience designed to reinvent train travel and take cars off the road by connecting city pairs and congested corridors that are too short to fly and too long to drive. Brightline West will connect Las Vegas and Southern California with the first true high-speed passenger rail system in the nation. The 218-mile, all-electric rail service will include a flagship station in Las Vegas, with additional stations in Victor Valley and Rancho Cucamonga. At speeds up to 200 miles per hour, trains will take passengers from Las Vegas to Rancho Cucamonga in about two hours, twice as fast as the normal drive time.
Brightline is currently operating its first passenger rail system in South Florida connecting Central and South Florida with stations in Miami, Aventura, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, West Palm Beach and Orlando.
For more information, visit www.brightlinewest.com and follow on LinkedIn, X, Instagram and Facebook.
About Nevada Department of Transportation
The Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) is responsible for the maintenance, construction, planning, and operation of the state transportation system, which encompasses more than 5,400 centerline miles of roads and 1,200 bridges. This statewide network supports 51% of all automobile traffic and 72% of all heavy truck traffic travel. Three districts oversee operations and maintenance activities within their local regions, and our headquarters, located in Carson City, supports operations across the state. NDOT is overseen by a seven-member Board of Directors, with the Governor acting as Chair. Our mission – to provide, operate and preserve a transportation system that enhances safety, quality of life and economic development through innovation, environmental stewardship, and a dedicated workforce – governs our decisions as we strive to be a leader and partner in delivering effective multimodal transportation solutions for a safe and connected Nevada.
For more information about NDOT, visit www.dot.nv.gov, and follow on X, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
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