Brightline West, America’s first true high-speed rail system, has broken ground in Nevada. The 218-mile system will connect Las Vegas to Southern California in just two hours, which breaks the time it takes to travel by car between these two cities in half.
Hailed as the greenest form of transportation in the world, Brightline West will transport passengers using zero-emission, fully electric trains capable of reaching speeds of 200 miles per hour. The rail system will run along the I-15 highway with stops in Las Vegas, Nev., as well as Victor Valley, Hesperia and Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.
The 80,000-square-foot Las Vegas flagship station will give passengers convenient access to the Harry Reid International Airport, the Las Vegas Convention Center and the Raiders’ Allegiant Stadium, while the Rancho Cucamonga Station located near the Ontario International Airport will offer easy connection to Downtown Los Angeles and other locations in Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside Counties.
Residents in the High Desert will be able to take advantage of the Hesperia Station located at the I-15/Joshua Street interchange, which will offer local weekday rail service on select southbound morning and northbound evening trains. Eventually, the Victor Valley Station in Apple Valley will offer a connection to the High Desert Corridor and California High Speed Rail.
Brightline West aims to open the new Las Vegas-to-Los Angeles high-speed rail line in time for the Los Angeles Summer Olympic Games in 2028.
According to Brightline, the Las Vegas and Southern California travel market is one of the nation’s most attractive corridors with over 50 million trips between the region each year. Through its rail service, Brightline West is expected to reduce vehicle miles by more than 700 million each year and the equivalent of 16,000 short-haul flights. This will reduce greenhouse gasses by over 400,000 tons of CO2 annually.
The high-speed rail system will also create an economic impact of over $10 billion for Nevada and California by generating more than 35,000 jobs, including 10,000 direct union construction roles and 1,000 permanent operations and maintenance positions.
To learn more, visit brightlinewest.com.
Renderings courtesy Brightline West
