China

High-Speed Rail Between Vegas and LA in the Works

The bullet train is expected to travel at speeds of 150 miles per hour with stations in LA, Palmdale and Victorville.

A Nevada-based company announced Thursday it has partnered with China Railway International to build a much anticipated high-speed railway linking Los Angeles to Las Vegas.

XpressWest, a venture backed by a Las Vegas hotel developer, said the train could get passengers from L.A. to Las Vegas in one hour and 20 minutes.

The plan to build a high-speed rail from L.A. to Vegas isn’t anything new – for decades, private entrepreneurs have announced plans to create the rail, only to have projects go nowhere.

According to Thursday's news release, the railway will bolster the economy and tourism business, adding the 230-mile route would result in significant job creation, and serve as a model of international cooperation.

The company said stations will be built and operated in Victorville, Palmdale and L.A. and will reach speeds of 150 miles per hour.

The project has not broken ground, but according to its news release, construction is slated to begin as early as September 2016.

It currently has the approval of regulators to cover about 190 miles from Las Vegas to the Mojave Desert city of Victorville, California, about a 100-mile drive northeast of Los Angeles.

The project needs further government permission to connect with Southern California's population centers, but the news release Thursday asserted the train would reach Los Angeles.

The project currently lacks permission to connect with the state of California's planned high-speed rail project at a station to be built in Palmdale, 50 miles west of Victorville. A mountain range and about 50 more miles separate Palmdale from downtown Los Angeles.

Skeptics have long questioned whether enough people would be willing to drive and park in Victorville then buy a train ticket to make the venture profitable.

The Associated Press Contributed to this story.

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