Brightline Trains West!

[cirdan]

This old and outdated link might help jog some people's memories.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Vegas_Railway_Express

Yes, I remember this very well.

If my memory doesn't fail me, there were two competing proposals at the time, the X train and the Z train. One was more a casino on wheels or party train type thing that would have used extensively rebuilt Gallery cars on UP tracks, and in which speed was very much a secondary consideration, with the ride itself being the attraction. The other was more a transportation thing with higher speeds and thus requiring a bigger budget. Neither of the two proposals appeared to be particularly well thought through in its earlier incarnations. But then Desert XPress got its act together and finally Brightline did its part too.

 

[jis]

There is a very good section on the history of development of Brightline West starting with DesertXpress through XpressWest to Brightline West in Wikipedia...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brightline_West

I had forgotten about the brief entanglement with the Chinese on the way to Brightline.

 

[eldomtom2]

BW is planning to break ground next week, apparently.
https://www.reviewjournal.com/local...on-las-vegas-high-speed-rail-project-3037071/

Brightline West plans to break ground next week on its Las Vegas-to-Southern California high-speed train system.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will join Brightline founder Wes Edens and federal, state and local officials from Nevada and California on Monday at the planned Las Vegas station site for a ceremony kicking off construction on the 218-mile rail line.

 

[JermyZP]

Brightline West to break ground this coming Monday.
https://www.reviewjournal.com/local...on-las-vegas-high-speed-rail-project-3037071/

Plans are to have the system between Rancho Cucamonga and Las Vegas to be open by the 2028 LA Summer Olympics.

 

[jis]

Here is a Trains article on the upcoming ground breaking. May require having an account with Trains....

https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/brightline-west-groundbreaking-set-for-monday/

 

[PaTrainFan]

Here is the AP story on today's groundbreaking of the LV-LA Brightline.

https://apnews.com/article/high-spe...s-brightline-595913ff2fa3d9001fb89bfab4e6c4d2