This time it’s a real promise. The first high-speed train line in the United States will open in 2028 between Las Vegas and Los Angeles, in time for the Olympic Games, US President Joe Biden announced on Friday. “We are building the first high-speed train line in the history of our country. And it starts here,” said a very fit Joe Biden while traveling in Las Vegas (Nevada).
This very first American “TGV” promises to connect Los Angeles (California) to Las Vegas (Nevada) in 2 hours 10 minutes, compared to double that by car, and should transport 11 million passengers per year, with an average top speed of 300 km/ h.
Called Brightline West, after the name of the private company that will be responsible for building it and then running the trains, this project will receive $3 billion from the major Biden infrastructure investment plan, adopted in 2021.
Late for Los Angeles – San Francisco
With an environmental promise, since the future line “will remove 3 million vehicles from the highway,” said Joe Biden. And a promise in terms of “union” and “well-paid” jobs, now less than a year before the presidential election.
“We have been talking about this project for decades. Now we are really going to make it happen,” added the president, who is a fan of the train.
He regularly recounts having taken it every day for 36 years, when he was a senator, between Washington and his stronghold in Delaware. Which earned him the nickname “Amtrak Joe”, from the name of the public company.
The place of first “TGV” in the United States should therefore ultimately not go to the San Francisco-Los Angeles line, announced for years but whose delay has caused costs to explode.
It will also benefit from 3 billion dollars to accelerate its realization, Joe Biden welcoming a project which targets “31 million passengers per year and will be powered 100% by renewable energies”.
“Economic competition”
The president detailed other modernization projects that will benefit from funding. That is, in total, 10 projects for 8.2 billion dollars. These investments are in addition to others announced in recent months, and bring the amount now allocated to $30 billion, out of the total envelope of $66 billion provided for in the investment plan.
“Railroads made America a force for commerce and innovation in the world, uniting the country and building the most powerful economy in history. And over time, however, we fell behind, our infrastructure was the best in the world,” lamented Joe Biden.
But “we are in an economic competition for the 21st century,” he added, with a keen eye towards the Asian competitor: “China has had trains running at 220 miles per hour for some time now.” .
“How can you be the best economy without having the best infrastructure in the world? “, he asked. Saying, “This is what we’re going to do.”