Brightline

The U.S. has long been a laggard when it comes to high-speed passenger rail. Against the odds, Brightline is betting that fast trains traveling between Miami and Orlando, and Los Angeles and Las Vegas, can find plenty of passengers. In September, the country’s only private passenger-rail company launched service between the two cities in Florida, with a top speed of 130 m.p.h.. “Brightline West,” which broke ground in April, will be faster. The $12 billion project, which the company says will be completed in time for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, promises to carry passengers at top speeds of 200 m.p.h. from an L.A. suburb to Las Vegas in just over two hours. The all-electric effort marks “the beginning of the construction of the first true high-speed train in America,” Brightline founder Wes Edens says. By leaning on existing transportation infrastructure—Brightline West will run almost entirely on Interstate 15’s median strip—the company aims to keep the ambitious intercity project on track.