Saturday, Aug. 19, 2023 | 2 a.m.
Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., is continuing her push for a high-speed rail system between Las Vegas and Southern California, sending another letter Friday to the U.S. Department of Transportation and urging it to fund a $3.7 billion grant for the project.
Brightline West wants to build the 218-mile system that would have rail stations in Las Vegas and in Rancho Cucamonga, Hesperia and Apple Valley in Southern California. The Nevada Department of Transportation applied for federal grant funding on behalf of Brightline and with the support of the entire Nevada congressional delegation and four California congressional representatives.
The project is estimated to have a $10 billion economic impact, remove 3 million cars from the oft-congested Interstate 15 and create 35,000 jobs in Nevada, Rosen said Friday during a news conference in Las Vegas.
“High-speed rail in Nevada is going to be a game changer for Las Vegas, and frankly, for our entire state,” she said. “It’s going to boost our travel and tourism economy and bring in more visitors. And this means that more people will be spending their money in Nevada hotels, restaurants, casinos, small businesses and at events in our state.”
The high-speed rail project would create at least 10,000 union jobs during construction, as well as remove 400,000-plus tons of carbon emissions each year, Clark County Commissioner Michael Naft said at the event.
Brightline CEO Michael Reininger says he is confident the project will receive the grant funding and predicts Brightline will have “shovels in the ground” by this fall.
The project perfectly fits the description of high-speed rail in the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, he said, which aims to make the U.S. more competitive with Europe and Asia, modernize transportation, use federal investments to attract private investments and ultimately reassert the U.S. as a leader in transportation infrastructure.
“The time to build American high-speed rail has arrived,” Reininger said. “By connecting Las Vegas and Southern California with American-made trains, built by American workers, we will in fact plant the flag for the development of an entire new industry, and we will establish the blueprint for how to build high-speed rail throughout the United States.”
The Brightline West proposal is the most “shovel-ready” project of its kind in the nation, he said, with all of its station land already secured, design and engineering work prepared, and union labor agreements made for construction and, eventually, operation.
The Nevada Department of Transportation is ready to “hit the ground running” if the high-speed rail receives funding, Director Tracy Larkin-Thomason said, adding that the overall goal is to open by 2028 when Los Angeles hosts the Summer Olympics.
Completing the high-speed rail by the Olympics is “absolutely doable,” Reininger said, because the project has already jumped its biggest hurdles.
“So we are now on the precipice of actual action toward making things happen,” he said.
Vegas Chamber CEO Mary Beth Sewald said the project had potential to be a catalyst for innovation, stimulate permanent job growth and more.
“It’s so important to our families,” Sewald said. “It’s important for education. It’s important for our kids to have a bright future. And so, these jobs will not only expand in the areas of construction and tourism and travel, but also in the areas of health care and things like tourism … it’s going to be monumental for our destination.”
Brightline West has received the necessary regulatory approvals and environmental reviews to move forward — a first for the many iterations of a Las Vegas-to-Southern California high-speed rail system —Rosen said, and the company will complete more than 100 more permits within the next couple of weeks, as well.
All that’s left is funding for construction of the high-speed rail, she said, which will lead to a booming economy in Nevada.
“There’s no project better for this grant than the Brightline,” Rosen said. “I can tell you we are shovel ready. We are a top tourist destination, not just in the country but around the world. And I can tell you from Day One … this train will have people in the seats, every single train ride. This project is destined for success because of what we have built here in Las Vegas.”
