According to Bloomberg and prior reporting in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, workers broke ground in late April on the construction of a 218-mile stretch of high-speed rail between Southern California and Las Vegas.
This line, connecting a station on Las Vegas Boulevard to the Metrolink in Southern California, has received $6.5 billion from the federal government between debt instruments and appropriated tax dollars, $3 billion of it coming in December as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
This money, invested from the Biden administration and Department of Transportation, represents a little over half the cost of the $12 billion rail line. The rest will be provided by Brightline, the contractor chosen by the federal government, using private capital and debt.
This will be the first high-speed rail line in the United States, supporting transportation at over 200 mph. It is due to be completed before the commencement of the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 2028.
It is also an important milestone in American climate investment. High-speed rail is an alternative to traveling in personal vehicles, which are responsible for significant carbon pollution.
first high speed rail breaking ground in usa from la to vegas
— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) April 23, 2024
thanks to $3 billion in federal funding
about damned time! pic.twitter.com/T2J5OkJfSE
Perhaps even more significantly, the project provides an alternative to flying between two places that are relatively close together, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. In a news release, Brightline described the ideal role of high-speed rail as connecting "city pairs that are too short to fly and too far to drive."
According to a report in The Washington Post, this is one of five proposed projects in the United States, and it will be completely electric. The expansion of similar infrastructure is an important part of creating a greener, cleaner future.
"Here's to seeing that through, and more where that came from," Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg posted on X, formerly Twitter.
Author and academic Ian Bremmer captured the mood by posting "about damned time!"
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