Las Vegas Review-Journal: A ‘historical moment’: Brightline West starts work on Vegas-to-LA high-speed rail
Brightline West broke ground Monday on its Las Vegas-to-Southern California high-speed train project with high hopes the $12 billion project will write a new chapter in the history of American rail.
“I’m convinced that the first time that first passenger buys a ticket and sits in a seat on that first high-speed trip on American soil, everything will change,” U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “The entire country will expect and demand that kind of quality and speed of service.”
Buttigieg was joined at the groundbreaking by Brightline founder Wes Edens — who dubbed the groundbreaking a “historical moment” — as well as Gov. Joe Lombardo and state and federal officials from Nevada and California.
The tourism and transportation benefits of the 218-mile rail line, which will be built in the median of Interstate 15, weren’t enough to get the project to the groundbreaking ceremony. The thousands of jobs expected to be created between the construction and the operation of the system gave it that final push, Lombardo said.
“Obviously, we are here because of the economic impact and the tourism and what it’s going to do for our economy. But more importantly, we’re saving lives as part of the process, and we’re putting people to work,” Lombardo said. “Through this visionary project and public-private partnership, we’re going to create thousands of jobs … bring incredible transportation infrastructure to the West and create an innovative, fast and sustainable transportation solution.”
Buttigieg said he’s been asked by many Americans who have traveled abroad why high-speed rail and other transportation options popular in other countries haven’t made it to the United States.
“There’s a lot of reasons why that’s been the case historically, but that ends starting today,” Buttigieg said. “What we are doing in partnership with Brightline is changing the story of American passenger rail.”