Nevada seeks $3.75 billion for green high-speed train
Eden Villalovas
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Nevada and California lawmakers have joined forces in a bipartisan congressional group to back federal funding for the Brightline West, a first-of-its-kind, high-speed rail project.
Six Nevada lawmakers and four House members from California sent a letter on Monday to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. It expressed their support for private company Brightline West’s proposal to connect Las Vegas with Southern California.
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The Nevada Department of Transportation applied for a $3.75 billion grant from the Biden administration-backed Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed in 2021.
The letter said the project would bring in extra economic activity for the two states, and it estimated $10 billion in economic impact and $1 billion in tax revenue.
“According to Brightline West’s current plan, the project is expected to create over 35,000 construction jobs and approximately 1,000 permanent jobs, creating pathways for workforce development, training, and access to quality jobs,” the letter said.
Wes Edens, Brightline founder and chairman, has spent the past few years changing Brightline’s Miami Central Station. He’s invested in dining, business, and entertainment, altering the standards of what a transportation center should feature.
The private company’s tracks currently run from Miami to West Palm Beach, but expansion to Orlando is expected this summer, according to a report, totaling 235 miles.
Brightline has a list of cities it hopes to connect. The company said the cities are too short to fly and too far to drive.
“You’ll move about 3 million cars off the road. That’s 20% of the current car traffic between Vegas and L.A.,” Edens said in a Forbes interview. “This thing creates the blueprint for how you replicate this in 20 different places around the country or more.”
Members of Congress who have previously opposed additional funding for high-speed railroads have raised concerns over wasting taxpayer dollars, planning failures, and possible delays.
In a 2021 letter to Buttigieg, a dozen lawmakers outlined their grievances about the high price tag on the California High-Speed Rail Authority’s efforts to complete the high-speed train connecting Los Angeles to San Francisco.
“Unfortunately, it appears the only certainty for the California high speed rail project under the Biden Administration is more wasteful federal funding redirected from more worthwhile transportation projects and programs,” the letter reads. “Instead of pursuing the frivolous desire to ‘lead the world’ in high speed rail, this Administration should focus on providing Americans with the safe, affordable, and practical infrastructure they demand.”
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Brightline’s Nevada to California high-speed train would be almost entirely privately funded, becoming the first private passenger rail service in the U.S.
“After more than a decade of working to find a pathway, Brightline West will be the first true high speed rail system in America and will serve as the blueprint for how we can connect major city pairs that are too short to fly and too far to drive,” said Mike Reininger, CEO Brightline.