Cars and airplanes have so far been a priority in US transport policy. If there are trains anywhere, they are usually quite slow. The Biden administration wants to change that. The first high-speed line is to connect Los Angeles with Las Vegas.
The USA should have the “fastest, safest and greenest rail transport in the world” – US President Joe Biden has announced this. The first high-speed line in the country is scheduled to connect Las Vegas with Los Angeles from 2028. “We’re building the first high-speed rail line in our country’s history. And it starts here,” Biden said during a visit to Las Vegas.
The Brightline West express trains are supposed to cover the 350 kilometers between the gambling city in the state of Nevada and the greater Los Angeles area in the state of California in two hours and ten minutes – around twice as fast as cars. The line will be operated by the private rail company Brightline, which is already offering a new rail connection between Miami and Orlando in the state of Florida on the US east coast.
The route should be ready for the Olympic Games
The government of rail fan Biden wants to donate up to three billion dollars (2.8 billion euros) for the Brightline West project. The route is scheduled to be completed in 2028, in time for the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
Eleven million passengers are expected each year. Biden said the express trains would take three million vehicles off the highway between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, where there is often traffic jams. In addition, around 400,000 tons of carbon dioxide would be saved annually.
A total of $8.2 billion was budgeted
Another three billion dollars will go to the Central Valley project between Bakersfield and Merced, which will better connect northern California with the Bay Area around San Francisco to the south and the metropolis of Los Angeles. Trains will run at speeds of up to 350 kilometers per hour in the 275 kilometer long corridor. The emission-free electric trains would be powered by renewable energy.
Further rail projects are planned in the eastern United States, including in North Carolina and Virginia. In total, Biden announced funds totaling $8.2 billion for ten important rail projects in the country. The money comes from an infrastructure package passed by Congress in 2021.
Passenger trains in the USA currently run slowly and quite irregularly; for decades, priority was given to cars and airplanes. In the fight against climate change, the US government wants to change that and double the number of passengers by 2040.