It's the question rail enthusiasts have posed for years: When might U.S. train travel start to more closely resemble that of Europe and Asia?
08.12.2023 - 20:37 / thepointsguy.com / Joe Biden
The White House is announcing billions of dollars in new funding for train projects from coast to coast.
President Joe Biden is announcing $8.2 billion in new funding for 10 major passenger rail projects and other rail infrastructure across the country at an event in Las Vegas.
Among the highlights are $6 billion for high-speed rail in California and Nevada, $1 billion for new Amtrak service between Raleigh, North Carolina, and Richmond, Virginia, and new funding for rail lines, bridges and other infrastructure improvements across the country. That comes on top of the news from the Federal Railroad Administration on new routes for Ohio and beyond.
"When we invest in America, there is literally nothing we cannot do," Mitch Landrieu, the senior adviser responsible for implementing Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, said.
Landrieu and Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg spoke at a White House press briefing. TPG reporter Caroline Tanner listened in as they discussed the projects coming out of the $66 billion for rail alone from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed in 2021.
Here's what to expect.
The nation's only private high-speed rail company, Brightline, will get a massive $3 billion federal grant. That's a big chunk of the expected $12 billion cost to build high-speed rail between Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
Service could start as soon as 2028, in time for Los Angeles to host the Olympics. Once complete, trains could transport passengers between Southern California and Vegas at speeds as fast as 186 miles per hour.
Related: Brightline to connect Los Angeles and Las Vegas
Brightline West put up banners in Nevada teasing a groundbreaking new line coming "soon."
As we've reported, Brightline is the same private company now running trains between Orlando and Miami in Florida. The company recently increased frequencies, which suggests the service is getting increasingly popular. Check out our review from last month here.
The company launched operations in South Florida in 2018, connecting Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. The extension to the terminals at Orlando International Airport (MCO) opened in September.
Related: Brightline doubles service between Orlando and Miami
California will get another $3.1 billion for a high-speed rail line already under construction in California's Central Valley. The new rail line is supposed to eventually link San Francisco and LA with trains running at speeds of up to 220 miles per hour.
The money will go toward a 119-mile segment currently under construction between Merced and Bakersfield, and it'll provide funds to build a station in downtown Fresno. Another $8 to $10 billion will be required to finish that section alone. The
It's the question rail enthusiasts have posed for years: When might U.S. train travel start to more closely resemble that of Europe and Asia?
Train fans and frequent travelers between Las Vegas and Los Angeles will have a new high-speed option that gets them from Point A to Point B. The Biden Administration has announced several projects to give travelers another way to travel. Here’s where rail projects are taking place, with several to begin construction in 2024.
It’s believed that the Norwegians invented modern skiing as we know it, and the first destination ski resort was Switzerland’s St. Moritz around 1864—more than half a century before the oldest operating mountain in the U.S. opened. It was the ski loving but mountain-challenged British that popularized the very notion of the ski vacation, traveling to the Alps for food, fun and skiing.
Snow isn’t completely unheard of in Las Vegas as the desert valley gets occasional flurries. But a cutting-edge spa amenity—a “Snow Shower”—at the brand new Fontainebleau Las Vegas means that flurries will fall all year round, a welcome reprieve when temperatures on The Las Vegas Strip hit the triple digits during summer months.
America's rail system has long paled in comparison to the bullet trains of Japan and France's Train à Grande Vitesse. But now, historic new federal funding could finally bring high-speed train travel to the US.
2023 is coming to a close, which means the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris are fast approaching. The opening ceremony is scheduled for July 26, with the Games finishing Aug. 11; the Paralympics will run from Aug. 28 through Sept. 8.
Despite sharing a border, Italy and Slovenia are not connected by a direct train. That could be about to change.
High-speed rail in the United States may soon be a reality. The White House recently announced the allocation of $8.2 billion in funding for several key rail projects including a Las Vegas to Los Angeles corridor; a Raleigh, North Carolina to Richmond, Virginia, route; new service throughout California’s central valley; and more. The investment is a component of President Joe Biden’s “Investing in America” Agenda. While high-speed rail has been a popular wish among travelers for many years, the allocation of funding helps put the project in motion, with one administration official sharing with Travel + Leisure that the Las Vegas to Los Angeles route could be completed in advance of the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. “If you’ve ever seen the standard of passenger rail service in Japan, Germany, Spain, or Italy, and come home and wondered, 'Why can’t we have these nice things?’ This is the beginning of the answer to that. Help is on the way,” Pete Buttigieg, the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, told T+L during a press briefing on the announcement. Buttigieg said that the lack of investment in new rail services over the last several decades is a trend that is now being reversed and that while change won’t happen overnight, travelers will see improvements within a few years. Over 35 rail projects were named as part of the funding announcement, including:
President Joe Biden is a self-described train fan, commuting between Washington, D.C. and Delaware on Amtrak for decades as a Senator. Now to beef up U.S. passenger rail, his administration is doling out more than $8 billion, including funds for two high-speed trains in California and Nevada.
Las Vegas travelers are a $3 billion step closer to speeding through the Mojave Desert on a high-speed train linking Sin City with Southern California.
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The second London SELECT Marketplace at the Rosewood Hotel – brought over 80 of the top-producing advisors from across the relevant UK business units to meet with key partners and suppliers.