It may have been the little engine that couldn’t get off the ground, but fortune seems to be changing for the SoCal bullet train.
Brightline, the company behind the 170-mile Las Vegas-to-Los Angeles route, has announced a landmark labor agreement with the High-Speed Rail Labor Coalition. This affords Brightline to move forward with construction this year!
The $10 billion investment is expected to create some 35,000 jobs during construction and more than 1,000 permanent jobs once operational, according to a press release from Brightline. The fully electric, emission-free system will also be one of the greenest forms of transportation in the U.S., removing 3 million cars and 400,000 tons of CO2 each year.
“Our nation’s first high-speed rail system will be operated and maintained by union labor, a statement of the strength of the American workforce,” said Mike Reininger, CEO of Brightline Holdings. “As the most shovel-ready high-speed rail project in the United States, we are one step closer to leveling the playing field against transit and infrastructure projects around the world, and we are proud to be using America’s most skilled workers to get there.”
Brightline West includes stations near the iconic Las Vegas Strip and in Rancho Cucamonga, Apple Valley, and Hesperia, California. Once completed, the Brightline train would travel at a top speed of 200 mph, making the 260 mile trip between Vegas and L.A. in about three hours.
Originally anticipated to start construction in 2020, COVID delays and regulatory approvals continued to push the start date back.