Las Vegas Breaks Ground On New Brightline West High-Speed Rail Project

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - APRIL 22: (L-R) Confetti falls as Deputy Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration Jennifer Mitchell, U.S. Rep. Norma Torres (D-CA), U.S. Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-CA), U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Brightline founder and Chairman Wes Edens, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), U.S. Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV), U.S. Rep. Steven Hosford (D-NV), U.S. Rep. Susie Lee (D-NV) and Southern Nevada Building Trades Executive Secretary Treasurer Vince Saavedra participate in the hammering of the first spike during a groundbreaking ceremony at the Brightline West Las Vegas station on April 22, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Kicking off the company's construction of a planned 218-mile high-speed rail line connecting Las Vegas and Southern California, Brightline's all-electric, zero-emission trains will travel at a top speed of 200 mph, taking passengers from Las Vegas to Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., with additional stations in Hesperia and Apple Valley, in just over two hours, twice as fast as the average drive time. The Rancho Cucamonga station will be next to an existing Metrolink station, allowing riders to transfer to and from Los Angeles, making the total trip between Las Vegas and LA 260 miles long, taking about three hours. The USD 12 billion project, which includes USD 3 billion in federal funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure law and USD 3.5 billion approved by the Department of Transportation, is expected to be completed in four years, in time for the 2028 Summer Olympics in LA. (Footage by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)