https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2023/12/05/brightline-wests-high-speed-rail-project-scores-3-billion-in-funding/71815262007/
Brightline West's high-speed rail project from Southern California to Las Vegas has scored $3 billion in federal funding.
First of all, woot, trains.
But this is a smaller section of high speed rail. One Vegas wanted and offered to pay for if memory serves. For a $4.2B project, $3.25B in tax exempt bonds were already authorized. Now another $3B? Looot of money flowing towards this project to get people to casinos. Hope accounting is up to par.
California does have another high speed rail that republicans have fought every step of the way. There is progress, but slow. Could probably toss some of that over budget excess our way to help out. Just say'n.
The same funding package gave the Bakersfield to Merced high speed project $3.1 billion so they could buy trains and start running by 2030. The San Francisco to Los Angeles project was originally supposed to cost $9 billion but it's now estimated between $90 and $120 billion.
Brightline looks like a bargain compared to CHSR.
The Bakersfield to Merced* project, and the Central Valley portion is now estimated at $30bil; if you're going to rag on it get your facts right.
Mixed ownership of rail isn't uncommon in the world, but yeah its a bit shit.
As a counter point, Brightline is basically the only private company to stand up a successful US commuter rail line in decades, so it makes sense to give them a boost here.
Somebody needs to build that fucking train, and they built one like it in rail hostile florida. That one is diesel because "reasons" but this one will be a sane electric.
There was a plan for actual HSR in Florida using the same ROW as Brightline. It was torpedoed by former governor and current senator Rick Scott. They sent money back to the Obama administration both because they didn't want the Democrats to get a win and also because of their privatization/kickback fetish.
And destroying the desert landscape in the process. Let's add hundreds of miles of high speed rail on top of I-15, the miles of freight rail, old mines, new lithium mining, all the military bases, and all the solar and wind farms to the delicate biosphere that hasn't changed in a million years. Awesome.
I feel like with 3B they should at least be able to electrify the existing tracks between Rancho Cucamonga and LA Union, and have Brightline stop there. Would make the whole thing so much nicer.
Probably more important to get the project completed first. It's not a perfect project by any means, but it's still pretty good overall.
What is the point? There is nothing in Las Vegas except gambling and prostitutes. Hardly enough to justify the cost.
... There are planes and cars in enormous numbers that go from there to LA... It doesn't matter how you judge their choices, it matters because it dramatically cuts car and plane usage and replaces it with far more efficient transportation.
Today, NFL, NHL, and WNBA. In a few years, MLB, NBA, and MLS teams. Plus sports betting and legal cannabis.
The high-speed rail makes it easier to shuttle a massive population from SoCal over cheaply.
Unsure if you've heard, but a lot of people are willing to travel for gambling and prostitutes