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High-speed train that will hurtle from Los Angeles to Las Vegas at 186mph gets the green light for $2.5billion funding boost
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] A proposed high-speed passenger train connecting Las Vegas with LA has been given another boost with the approval of $2.5billion(£1.975billion) in extra funding.The Brightline West railway aims to whisk passengers at 186mph (300kph) or more in electric trains across the Nevada desert in just two hours. It will cost around $12billion to create. It's a 45 minute flight The latest funding - in tax-exempt bonds - was recently approved by the Biden administration. It follows an unprecedented $3billion U.S. Department of Transportation grant in December and government authorisation in 2020 for the company to sell $1billion in similar bonds. 'We appreciate the confidence placed in us by DOT and are ready to get to work,' said Brightline founder and chairman Wes Edens. Florida-based Brightline Holdings LLC is the only private passenger rail company in the U.S, linking Miami and Orlando with diesel-powered trains reaching speeds up to 125mph (200kph). And it could soon also become the first in the country to complete a high-speed, electric-powered option if its new Brightline West project is successful. The 218-mile (351km) railway will halve a four-hour freeway trip between Las Vegas and suburban San Bernardino County near LA. It will make stops in Las Vegas, Victory Valley, Hesperia, and Ranch Cucamonga California where it will connect to the City of Angels' Metrolink commuter rail. Planners and politicians say the project has all the required right-of-way and environmental approvals, along with labour agreements, and should help alleviate weekend and end-of-holiday travel traffic jams that often stretch for 15 miles (25km) on I-15 near the Nevada-California line. No date has been announced for work to start, but officials have said it might be operational by the start of the Los Angeles Summer Olympics in 2028. Posted by: Skidmark 2024-02-02 |
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