On April 22, 2024 U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Brightline Founder Wes Edens, Nevada Gov. along with 600 distinguished attendees officially broke ground on the upcoming Brightline West electrified high speed rail line aimed at connecting Las Vegas to Southern California. The project aims at constructing the first true private high speed rail line in the United States.
What Is Brightline West?
Brightline West is taking lessons learned from their successful Brightline operation in South Florida. Brightline West will span approximately 218 miles with station stops in Rancho Cucamonga, Victor Valley and Las Vegas, taking only two hours to complete the full journey. Intestinally, the Victor Valley Station will offer connections to the proposed California High Speed Rail network. Similar to Brightline’s current stations, Brightline West stations will offer a lounge like experience rather than a typical station waiting room. “This is a historic project and a proud moment where we break ground on America’s first high-speed rail system and lay the foundation for a new industry,” said Wes Edens, Brightline founder. “Today is long overdue, but the blueprint we’ve created with Brightline will allow us to repeat this model in other city pairs around the country.” The project has received over 3 billion in funding from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill with the remainder of the project being privately funded. Additionally the project received a total allocation of $3.5 billion in private activity bonds from USDOT.
