Virgin has unveiled plans to build a fully electric, high-speed train that would connect Southern California to Las Vegas by 2023.
Developed by company subsidiary Virgin Trains USA, the 170-mile (273-kilometre) high-speed line will link Las Vegas, Nevada with Victorville, California ? a town about an hour-and-a-half drive northeast from Downtown Los Angeles.
Virgin Trains USA revealed that construction is expected to commence this year and complete in 2023 in a presentation to the Board of County Commissioners in December 2019. The dates, however, are currently pending approval from the US Federal Railroad Administration.
News of the timeline comes a month after the state of California approved a $3.25 billion (£2.48 billion) bond request for the project, according to the Las Vegas Review Journal. The train line is expected to cost $4.8 billion (£3.66 billion). Las Vegas and Southern California train to take 90 minutes
If approved, the line will be constructed along the US north-south highway Interstate 15 (I-15) that passes through much of California, and a track running east-west in Nevada.
Trains will be fully electric and will travel at 180 miles (290 kilometres) per hour and take less than 90 minutes. Virgin Trains USA said the journey will cost less than driving or flying.
The high-speed rail forms the latest project for Virgin, which has developed a similar system in Florida, called Brightline. Photograph by Patrick Hamilton, courtesy of Wikipedia.
The eastern end...