Brightline hopes that the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) will approve an environmental permit for a part of the route by the end of this year (2022). This is a step toward opening the entire line, which company officials hope will take place in about 3½ years, an ambitious time frame for building a railroad complete with tracks and overhead catenary for power.
Mick Akers reported the development in the January 24 edition of the Las Vegas Review-Journal in a story headlined “Edens says that the Brightline high-speed rail project is at the ‘1-yard line’”. Could 2022 finally be the year construction on the long-discussed high-speed train between Las Vegas and Southern California gets under way?”
Akers reported: “Edens knows this project has been ongoing for more than a decade but he said the most significant strides have been made since Brightline came into the mix, getting it close to shovel-ready. A train system that was originally thought to be Vegas to Victorville, in the middle of the desert, is now, all the way to L.A. … I think that is a game-changer.”
Why would high speed trains be very beneficial for California and the Las Vegas area? All due to the weekend traffic that could save you at least 2+ hours of traffic time at non peak times. The trains would run every 45 minutes from 6am to midnight. Train will be carrying up to 500 people at speeds approaching 200 mph. The trip from Victorville to Las Vegas would take about 90 minutes. The Victorville station will be built off of Interstate 15 and Dale Evans Parkway and the Las Vegas station would be near the strip.
Future high speed train connections could be down the Cajon Pass to Rancho Cucamonga and then to the Los Angeles area after the Victorville to Las Vegas section is completed.
A timeline for the project has not been set, said Greta Seidman, spokesperson for the project. Once ground is broken, construction of the train line will take about four years total to start transportation of people. The cost of a ticket has not yet been revealed at this time.
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