$12 billion high-speed rail project between Las Vegas and Southern California begins construction.

A ground-breaking $12 billion high-speed passenger train line that will link Southern California and Las Vegas is scheduled to begin construction on Monday.

The project’s driving force, Brightline West, intends to install 218 miles of new rail between a terminus close to the Las Vegas Strip and another location in Rancho Cucamonga. The objective of this ambitious project is to reduce the average three-hour-plus vehicle trip between the two destinations to little over two hours.

The majority of the route will follow the Interstate 15 median, with a planned strategic station stop in the Victorville region.

Roughly 30,000 passengers per day, or 11 million one-way travelers yearly, are expected to use the train service, which offers costs far less than flying. Facilities including Wi-Fi, food and beverage services, luggage check-in convenience, and restrooms are expected by passengers.

The creator and chairperson of Brightline Holdings, Wes Edens, praised the initiative and saw it as a turning point in the development of a new industry that would connect American towns that are too close to travel by plane but too far away to travel in comfort.

The project’s ambitious timeframe is demonstrated by the completion deadline, which falls in the lead-up to the Los Angeles Summer Olympics in 2028.

The federal government’s strong support for Brightline is demonstrated by the fact that U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is expected to attend the construction kickoff in Las Vegas alongside Brightline leaders. In addition to a previously approved $1 billion, Brightline received $6.5 billion in backing from the Biden administration, which included a sizeable $3 billion grant from federal infrastructure money and permission to sell $2.5 billion in tax-exempt bonds.

It is anticipated that the project will help Southern California in particular and create thousands of jobs and investments totaling hundreds of millions of dollars.

With top speeds of 186 mph (300 kph), this project is noteworthy as the first attempt at a truly high-speed passenger rail line in the country, comparable to Japan’s well-known Shinkansen bullet trains. Numerous fast train proposals have been put up across the United States, however many of them have run into delays.

The profitability of such endeavors is demonstrated by Brightline’s performance in Florida, where it currently runs a high-speed line between Miami and Orlando.

The acceleration of the Southern California-Las Vegas high-speed rail project represents a major advancement in the transformation of intercity travel in the United States.