White House announces a flood of money for high-speed rail and other train projects

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.

Interval International operates membership programs for vacationers and provides value-added services to its developer clients worldwide.

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.