Groundbreaking ceremony held for high-speed train from Las Vegas to Los Angeles
Federal, transportation and union leaders gathered in Las Vegas Monday to drive spikes into a symbolic rail, marking the beginning of construction for a $12 billion high-speed rail line that will link Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area.
“People have been dreaming of high-speed rail in America for decades,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Monday ahead of the groundbreaking ceremony. “It’s really happening this time.”
Brightline West, the only private passenger rail company operating high-speed service in the country, is expected to build a 218-mile intercity passenger rail system between Las Vegas and Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., where it would connect with Los Angeles’s existing regional rail system.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 47 | April 23, 2024 11:12 PM
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Party train? Sounds useless.
by Anonymous | reply 1 | April 23, 2024 3:32 AM
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Rancho Cucamonga? This will turn into Spirit Airlines faster than you can say "Made in the USA!"
by Anonymous | reply 2 | April 23, 2024 3:34 AM
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This is a far better idea that the LA to SF bullet train and lots of people will actually use it, especially for Raider games.
by Anonymous | reply 3 | April 23, 2024 3:34 AM
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Very major city should have a high-speed change to the next closest major city there's absolutely no reason we couldn't put as much effort as we did into the highway system to get it all up and running fairly quickly.
by Anonymous | reply 4 | April 23, 2024 4:02 AM
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Let’s hope it runs better than the Brightline rail in Florida, which regularly kills so many people it has its own Instagram account.
by Anonymous | reply 5 | April 23, 2024 4:03 AM
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I’m sure Mayor Pete will be front and center and since it’s two rich liberal cities, he won’t say a word about infrastructure being racist.
With Petey being on the West Coast, Chasten gets a day to flick through Growlr and be grateful he’s not the last girl at the dance.
by Anonymous | reply 6 | April 23, 2024 4:06 AM
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Will it be completed by the time I arrive there for the Olympics?
by Anonymous | reply 7 | April 23, 2024 4:06 AM
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We should have more trains. Europe, Asia, Canada why is the US so behind in trains?
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 8 | April 23, 2024 4:26 AM
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[quote] a $12 billion high-speed rail line
The California rail scam started at f $28–35 billion. The hogs at the trough must have had a big laugh at Pete's numbers.
by Anonymous | reply 9 | April 23, 2024 4:44 AM
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Isn’t this a cheap whore’s dream?
by Anonymous | reply 10 | April 23, 2024 5:01 AM
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High-speed rail from LA to the one city in the country that no one needs high-speed rail to get to.
by Anonymous | reply 11 | April 23, 2024 5:20 AM
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R10 Yes it's every ghetto ho's fantasy. They can bring 4 suitcases worth of weaves, stripper heels, and cheap booze.
Again, Rancho Cucamonga. Not exactly urban sophisticate land.
by Anonymous | reply 12 | April 23, 2024 5:20 AM
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R12 PeopleWatcher Express, the Sunset Line
by Anonymous | reply 13 | April 23, 2024 5:23 AM
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[quote] since it’s two rich liberal cities, he won’t say a word about infrastructure being racist.
The racial/ethnic/cultural composition of Los Angeles as of 2020, according to DEC redistricting data, was as follows:[2]
1. Hispanic or Latino (of any race): 46.9%
2. White (alone, not Hispanic or Latino): 28.9%
3. Asian (alone): 11.7%
4. Black or African American (alone): 8.3% (See #1)
Two or more races: 3.3%
Other (alone): 0.7%
Native American (alone): 0.2%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander (alone): 0.1%
“Los Angeles County is home to the third largest Black population (936,285) in the United States.” - LA.gov
by Anonymous | reply 14 | April 23, 2024 5:24 AM
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This isn't LA, it's Rancho Cucamonga in San Bernardino County. You would need to take a Metrolink train that only runs during the day to get to this station.
Southwest flies to Las Vegas as low as 39 each way from Burbank. It only takes an hour to get to Las Vegas.
by Anonymous | reply 15 | April 23, 2024 5:32 AM
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I live in Central LA. By the time I leave my house, drive to the nearest metro station, hop on the train to Rancho Cucamonga, wait for the high speed train and arrive to Las Vegas, I would have done much faster just driving there directly and I'd have a car to get around.
by Anonymous | reply 16 | April 23, 2024 5:46 AM
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I hate that it's going to stop at Ranch Cucamonga, but I understand the reasoning. It's the best place they can build a station without having to take buy out people and business in the more dense parts of LA. Yes, you can fly to LV in about an hour, but then you have to deal with airports, security, luggage restrictions shitty seats etc. Trains are a lot easier to board, you can spread out, you can walk around, you can get snacks. And you see a lot more of the actual country which is nice.
The main goal is to finishing it before the Olympics which is why it's also a good idea not to dump all those people at some place already crowded like LAX. Unlike the one in Florida, it will have very few crossing so the accident rate should not be an issue.
by Anonymous | reply 17 | April 23, 2024 6:55 AM
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It costs $400 round trip. You can fly commercial for around 60% of that, or take a luxe charter for $50 more.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 18 | April 23, 2024 9:48 AM
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[quote] that will link Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area.
The gambling express.
by Anonymous | reply 19 | April 23, 2024 10:34 AM
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That price is not correct, people been spreading that around that post like Trump speak on Fox. The one in Florida by the same company costs $79 for adults and $39 for kids.
by Anonymous | reply 20 | April 23, 2024 10:49 AM
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[quote]We should have more trains. Europe, Asia, Canada why is the US so behind in trains?
Because most Americans prefer private cars over public transportation and have no problem driving long distances to other states, which to Europeans is akin to traveling to another country.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 21 | April 23, 2024 11:29 AM
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Of all the worthy routes for a high-speed rail line in the US, the choice of LA-Las Vegas doesn't flood to mind as a top priority.
I might have given priority to needed commuter routes, say ones that served people in a range of incomes; or routes that connected key cities and which enabled better airport travel connections or key travel destinations; or cross-state lines for Pennsylvania and New York State that made tired cities with great housing stock an option for housing remote workers and for urban revitalization.
But hustling (a hoped for) 11M gamblers back and forth from LA to Las Vegas each year? I would have pushed that lower on the list as an inaugural project.
by Anonymous | reply 24 | April 23, 2024 11:47 AM
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R24 gets it
This is where you need high speed rail
Put this corner of West Virginia one hour from DC Union Station
Inject steroids into WV’s tax base
Also adds blue voters to red state
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 25 | April 23, 2024 11:57 AM
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On the Strip they're taking bets on when it will first derail.
by Anonymous | reply 26 | April 23, 2024 12:11 PM
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the lack of modern rail infrastructure in the US should be one of our biggest scandals making the public furious. it would add massive value to nearly every sector of the economy by providing cheaper and faster cargo transport alone. even if it were nationalized and operated at a massive loss it would be a huge net positive.
by Anonymous | reply 27 | April 23, 2024 12:15 PM
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Accessible, affordable public transportation is communism, plain and simple.
You'll have to pry my cold, dead hands from the steering wheel of my $90K/$1500 month car note Ford F150 pickup.
by Anonymous | reply 28 | April 23, 2024 12:23 PM
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As others have said the key to understanding this project is it is *not* connecting LA to Las Vegas.
It is connecting Las Vegas to the Inland Empire, Rancho Cucamango is still 40 miles to LA. That's like building a train to New Brunswick NJ and saying you have connected to NYC. Very convenient for people that live in the Inland Empire, but if you actually live in LA less so.
Still a good start. The more fast train lines we have in America the better.
by Anonymous | reply 29 | April 23, 2024 12:45 PM
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Seems like a silly route.
They need a better high speed rail between Boston and Washington DC, via NYC and LA and SF.
by Anonymous | reply 30 | April 23, 2024 1:00 PM
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Apparently r23 doesn’t know what the word “could” means:
[quote]Brightline West: Round-trip tickets from Las Vegas to SoCal could cost over $400
by Anonymous | reply 31 | April 23, 2024 1:35 PM
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Yeah the route between Boston and NYC is definitely slower than it should be r30. However the route between NYC and DC is pretty good. The Acela can do it under 3 hours, it's like an hour faster than driving.
by Anonymous | reply 32 | April 23, 2024 1:45 PM
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Maybe seems like a silly route but a lot of people do it. Leisure route!
[quote] Over 1.5 million people travel between Harry Reid International (LAS) in Las Vegas and Los Angeles International (LAX) annually on 10 different airlines. This makes the route not only the most trafficked flight out of LAS, but one of the more trafficked leisure routes in the United States.
by Anonymous | reply 33 | April 23, 2024 2:02 PM
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“Excuse me ma’am, this price is wrong! I expect reparations!”
by Anonymous | reply 34 | April 23, 2024 2:26 PM
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R31 with that reasoning anyone “could say” it “could cost” $1000. Which is basically what that random Instagram account does- making up a number. Where do they get that estimate?
I’m on the FL Brightline right and it’s an amazing way to get around and costs vary between $30 and $40.
by Anonymous | reply 35 | April 23, 2024 3:43 PM
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I remember when a man in Japan decided to commit suicide in front of a high speed train. Not only did it kill him but it severed his foot which flew into and through the window of the train and killed a passenger.
by Anonymous | reply 36 | April 23, 2024 4:03 PM
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[quote]Very major city should have a high-speed change to the next closest major city there's absolutely no reason we couldn't put as much effort as we did into the highway system to get it all up and running fairly quickly.
The closest major city to LA is San Diego, not Las Vegas.
by Anonymous | reply 37 | April 23, 2024 5:10 PM
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The oil companies will not let it happen, USA. Nevah!
by Anonymous | reply 38 | April 23, 2024 5:17 PM
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If you don't have a car in the US, you're screwed.
I like being able to travel safely by train on scenic routes and enjoy The view, a dining car, etc.
I don't know why the concept is so alien to Americans. I'm American and I love it
by Anonymous | reply 39 | April 23, 2024 6:21 PM
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Why do you think some New Yorkers can be annoying about living in NY r39. It's the only place in America where most people don't have a car, very unlike the rest of this country that is obsessed with driving.
by Anonymous | reply 41 | April 23, 2024 6:30 PM
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This is not to LA it is an hour plus outside of LA. Not a huge game changer
by Anonymous | reply 42 | April 23, 2024 6:31 PM
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Everything old is new again
Starting in 1956, the City of Las Vegas, the Union Pacific's GM Aerotrain (the coaches were bus bodies) left LA Union Station at 8 am and arrived in Las Vegas at 2:45 pm. The UP wasn't happy with the GM train set and replaced it with conventional streamlined cars.
I hope the new train is faster - almost seven hours (although to downtown, not Rancho Cucamonga) seems like a long time.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 43 | April 23, 2024 6:34 PM
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Multi billion dollar scam. California specializes in this sort of corruption " for the good of the people".
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 44 | April 23, 2024 7:50 PM
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How is adding trains to a popular tourist destination a scam?
by Anonymous | reply 45 | April 23, 2024 8:55 PM
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Depends on if you own adjacent land or build trains etc. Tale as old as time.
by Anonymous | reply 46 | April 23, 2024 8:58 PM
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Gimme a ticket for an Aerotrain, ain't got time to take a fast plane
by Anonymous | reply 47 | April 23, 2024 11:12 PM
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