LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The high-speed train connection to Los Angeles is a decades-old dream for Las Vegas, but California has something bigger in mind. And they’re almost ready to start laying temporary track.

A ceremony on Monday near Bakersfield broke ground on “the railhead,” the first step to laying track in Central California that will eventually connect Northern California through the Central Valley to Southern California. The Victorville Daily Press covered the event.

A news release from the California High-Speed Rail Authority hailed the progress as the latest for the “U.S. Southwest region high-speed rail network.”

And, yes, the Brightline West project from Las Vegas to Rancho Cucamonga is a big part of that network. Progress over the past few weeks has been on the California side of the border, where geotechnical work continues.

Brightline West is expected to be ready to carry passengers when the 2028 Olympic Games arrive in Los Angeles.

While everyone is looking for the first sign of train tracks in the Interstate 15 median, the California Central Valley project shows work is well underway with “25 active construction sites, more than 60 miles of guideway completed and nearly five miles of bridges and other structures in place, making it possible to begin the track laying construction process. In addition, 463 of 494 miles have been fully environmentally cleared for the high-speed rail project between the Bay Area and Los Angeles County,” the authority reports.

Moreover, two California agencies are already working with Brightline to establish standards that will be important in connecting the routes that will eventually lead to San Diego and the Bay Area.

“Once fully built and interconnected, the three high-speed rail systems will pave the way for Californians to travel from Northern California through Central Valley to Southern California, as well to Las Vegas. The three parties continue to collaborate on protocols and standards for interoperability between systems,” according to the authority’s news release.

On Monday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom helped hammer down symbolic spikes for the railhead in Kern County. “Finally, we’re at the point where we’re going to start laying down this track in the next couple years,” Newsom said.

The next steps involve laying temporary freight tracks to facilitate transport of track-laying machines, track ties, traction power and overhead electric lines.

Brightline West will connect Las Vegas and Southern California with the first true high-speed passenger rail system in the nation. At speeds up to 200 miles per hour, trains will take passengers from Las Vegas to Rancho Cucamonga in about two hours, twice as fast as the normal drive time.



Source link

Share:

administrator