High-speed rail project secures $3 billion in funds from bipartisan infrastructure law

After years of speculation, and promises, to bring a high-speed train to connect Southern Nevada to Southern California, the latest proposed rail system seems to be on track after receiving $3 billion in federal funding. 

Nevada lawmakers announced Tuesday the Brightline West project received $3 billion in funds, a not insignificant fraction of the estimated $12 billion price tag. 

“For the nearly 50 years I’ve lived in Las Vegas, Nevadans have heard about the prospect of building a high speed rail system between Las Vegas and Southern California,” U.S. Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen said in a press call Tuesday.  

The project, she added, is “shovel ready” and expected to have a groundbreaking soon. 

“As far back as 2001, I’ve been advocating to bring a true high-speed rail system to Southern Nevada,” U.S. Democratic Rep. Dina Titus said in a statement. “I am thrilled that this funding will allow Brightline West and the Nevada Department of Transportation to do just that.”

U.S. Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto said the project “makes sense given the tens of millions of visitors each year.”

“Connecting Las Vegas and Southern California by high-speed rail will create tens of thousands of good-paying union jobs, boost our Southern Nevada tourism economy, and finally help us cut down on I-15 traffic,” she said. 

The funding comes as part of the Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail Grant, which was authorized by the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, commonly referred to as the bipartisan infrastructure bill. 

Rosen said other money for the project will be “secured in the private sector” but no details have been released yet on the additional funding components. 

In April, Nevada’s congressional delegation sent a letter urging U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to support the request for funding. 

They wrote that the funding would “unleash private investment at a critical moment for our nation, demonstrating the potential for public-private partnerships and planting a flag for American high-speed rail.”

Nevada Republican Rep. Mark Amodei voted against the infrastructure bill, but signed on to the letter. 

Rosen said on Tuesday that the federal funding was “a game changer for Las Vegas” that will ensure a rail system project “wasn’t just decades of talk and promises.” 

“Think about what the future will look like once this project is complete,” she said.  “Visitors to our state, millions of them, will visit each year and will have the ability to get on a train in Southern California, enjoy a cocktail or meal, all while traveling directly and quickly to Las Vegas. Doesn’t that sound a whole lot better than the current option of sitting in traffic for several hours on the I-15?”

Stations are planned in Las Vegas and San Bernardino County “with connectivity into Los Angeles County through Metrolink,” according to the letter. Brightline has tentatively planned to make the train operational by 2028.

“This is a historic moment that will serve as a foundation for a new industry, and a remarkable project that will serve as the blueprint for how we can repeat this model throughout the country,” Brightline founder and chairman Wes Edens said in a statement. “We’re ready to get to work to bring our vision of American made, American built, world class, state-of-the-art high speed train travel to America.”

“This high speed rail line will create tens of thousands of good paying union jobs, super charge our travel and tourism economy and reduce the number of cars that travel on I-15 by more than 3 million,” Rosen said.  

Once running, she said the rail system is expected to reduce “carbon emissions by more than 400,000 tons each year.”