Americans could one day soon cruise between two major cities in the western US on a mega-fast train at 150 mph, thanks to a new agreement between a private US venture and a consortium led by China Railway Group.
It’ll be called XpressWest, and it’ll link the 230 miles separating Los Angeles and Las Vegas. The train will get you there in 80 minutes, versus a four-hour car ride. Construction’s set to kick off next September, and comes on the heels of four years of negotiations. It’s China’s first high-speed rail project in the US, and Bloomberg reports that $100 million in initial capital will get the project off the ground. (Though that’ll be just a teeny drop in the bucket—the project is expected to cost upwards to $7 billion). To date, only private sector funds have covered the bill, but the project’s applied for loans with the Federal Railroad Administration.
via Gizmodo
