Las Vegas Boulevard.
Photographer: Roger Kisby/BloombergWill a Fast Train to Vegas Lure Road Trippers From Their Cars?
The planned Brightline West would help the U.S. catch up on high-speed rail. But to fill seats, it will have to win passengers in an autocentric country.
Picture the unlucky Los Angeles resident who decides to party in Las Vegas for the weekend, only to hit traffic that can turn a four-and-a-half-hour drive into six, or get stuck at the airport due to a flight delay.
A company called Brightline Holdings says it has the solution: It will not only transport southern Californians to Las Vegas on fast, climate-friendly trains with food, drinks and free internet, but will check in their bags for them at their hotels. The company calls this venture Brightline West. It already operates a rail line in Florida, between Miami and West Palm Beach, which was the country’s first new, privately financed intercity passenger rail in a century when it began service in 2018.