For anyone who has been following new developments of the high speed train going from Victorville, CA to Las Vegas, NV will be pleased to know that more progress is being made. Virgin Trains USA, who already owns and operates a high speed rail line in Florida, announced they are finally ready to move forward with the Victorville to Vegas train because they have a model to base it off of, since the Florida train has been so successful. Virgin Trains USA Vice President, Bob O’Malley, stated that engineers have designed 30% of the project so far and he expects construction to start next year and take approximately three years to build. The first phase of the project is expected to be built along Interstate 15.
The cost of the project is expected to be around $4 billion. O’Malley says, “We’re currently on financing it and intend to finance it the same way we did in Florida.” The trip from Las Vegas to Victorville will be a distance of 185 miles nonstop, at speeds up to 150 miles per hour, making the travel time about 75 to 90 minutes each way and cost about $60 for each direction.