During this week, the construction of a high-speed rail line, which will connect the mecca of gambling - Las Vegas with the Los Angeles metropolitan area, began.
This will be the first real bullet train in the US, announced the company "Brightline West" (Brightline West), which is implementing the project estimated at 12 billion dollars.
Train shoots for the Olympics in Los Angeles
The electric high-speed train is expected to carry its first passengers in 2028, when Los Angeles will host the Summer Olympics.
"For decades, people in America have dreamed of a real high-speed rail line. Now it's really happening," said US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
This happened during the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a rail terminal in Las Vegas for the Bullet trains. The facility will be located south of the famous "Las Vegas Strip" (Las Vegas Strip).
"Brightline West" plans to build a railway line with a length of 351 kilometers. It will run almost entirely along Interstate I-15 and connect Las Vegas (Nevada) with Rancho Cucamonga in California. This city is located about 65 kilometers from the central part of Los Angeles and is connected to the metropolis by an express train of the "Intercity" type.
Construction of a station on the high-speed rail line and in the area of the city of Victorville is planned. It is located in San Bernardino County, California.
At over 300 km/h across the desert
Representatives of "Brightline West" announced that their goal is for the new high-speed train to travel at over 300 km/h. This speed is comparable to that of the Japanese bullet train "Shinkansen".
The company says the high-speed trains will shorten the four-hour trip across the Mojave Desert. They will cover the distance between the terminal in Las Vegas and Rancho Cucamonga outside Los Angeles in approximately 2 hours.
The same distance can be covered by car on the highway in just over 3 hours, but if there are no traffic jams. And they are very typical at the end of weekends, when many people return home from the mecca of gambling after having fun in Sin City, notes CBS.
Annually, about 16 million people travel from Las Vegas to Southern California on the I-15 highway through the Mojave Desert, according to the edition "Hill".
"Brightline West" estimates that the commissioning of the high-speed rail line could reduce the number of car and bus journeys by 3 million per year. This will have a positive environmental effect for the region, as the harmful emissions emitted by the movement of motor vehicles will be reduced, and the new high-speed trains will be powered by electricity. It is predicted that the number of people traveling with them, and that only in one direction, will reach about 11 million people a year.
"I believe that in time we will look back on current events and say: "That's when the foundations of the high-speed rail business (in the US - ed.) were laid,'' points out the founder of " Brightline West" Wes Edens, quoted by the Associated Press.
The billionaire notes that the price of tickets for the new high-speed trains will be comparable to that of flights.
Project for billions
The purpose of "Brightline West" is to connect by high-speed rail American cities that are too close together to travel between them by plane, but not so close that transportation by car or bus is convenient.
The company enjoys the support of the administration of US President Joe Biden for the implementation of the project for the high-speed rail line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area, estimated at 12 billion dollars, according to the AP.
"Brightline West" received a $3 billion grant from the US Federal Infrastructure Development Fund.
In addition, the company was recently granted permission to raise $2.5 billion in project financing through the issuance of tax-exempt bonds.
In 2020, US federal authorities allowed "Brightline West" to issue and sell similar bonds worth $1 billion.