Brightline West to Spur US High-Speed Rail Industry: Edens

Brightline founder and chairman Wes Edens talks about what the new Brightline project will mean for the high-speed rail industry in the US. He joins David Westin on "Wall Street Week."
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[@stickynorth]

Kudos to Brightline for getting shovels in the ground. America needs dozens of these lines if Amtrak isn't funded enough to get the job done... Atlanta-Charlotte, Raleigh to Richmond, Orlando-Jacksonville, Seattle-Portland, Los Angeles-Phoenix-Las Vegas... Even if just 125 mph/200 kmh service was introduced on those routes it would go along way into getting people out of their cars and onto transit...

[@thunderdemonlover]

Thank you . same same so we should be different .This Transit should be Fast .

[@scottg8660]

Only poor people take trains and they can't afford this one lol

[@mrxman581]

Because the vast majority of ROWs are owned by private freight railroad companies including most of the routes Amtrak uses.

[@popcorn8153]

@@scottg8660 This is a really dumb take, and part of a cultural problem revolving around public transport in the US. Turn your head to nations that aren't car-cucked and you see plenty of well to do people taking the train. For example Paul McCartney.

[@burkhardproksch637]

In any case, if you look at all the dilapidated roads, it makes sense. The roads are only being repaired with patches. The whole thing would also cost billions. The USA has built roads upon roads, but it is now becoming clear that they also need to be maintained. Only now it will be really expensive to rectify the mistakes made back then.

[@vibeking888]

More HSR! I hope by mid 2030s, we have a HSR hub in every major city in America.

[@StefanWithTrains3222]

That will just not happen, I would hope, but it won't be.

[@vibeking888]

@@StefanWithTrains3222 if we the people keep advocating, I don’t see how they can refuse to rid the red tape and make HSR more efficient to construct!

[@Dr.Kraig_Ren]

​​​@@vibeking888red tape? More like oil giants lobbying politicians

[@nicewall8311]

@@vibeking888 Rail projects are notoriously slow and difficult to build. It'll be amazing if this one (at arguably one of the most ideal places for it) manages to finish by 2030, let alone any others announced in the next five years.

[@Djamonja]

@@nicewall8311 This one will be running by 2028, but it's a unique situation. The others like you said will take a lot longer, maybe 2035 if they are in a good location like Dallas to Houston.

[@mostbestjia627]

Let’s build Portland-Seattle-Vancouver HSR next! 😮

[@TheRailwayDrone]

It's really been a great few years for rail in America. We need to continue this momentum well into the 2030s.

[@scottg8660]

What statistic states that?

[@TheRailwayDrone]

@@scottg8660 As you're on the internet responding to my comment, you can use that same internet to look up the statistics yourself.

[@PaperAirplaneFactory]

North of 200mph ❤🎉

[@mrxman581]

Very much doubt it. Just do the math. The route is 218 miles and the travel time is estimated to be 2hrs and 5 minutes last I read. If it reaches 200 mph, it will probably be for 10 minutes. The average speed will be closer to 100 mph. There are several very steep grades where the train will have to slowdown tremendously.

[@cameronf3343]

I wanna see these between every city I can’t wait to ride these trains 🎉🎉

[@MrJuvefrank]

So do I. I wonder who's going to finish it.

[@adak2050]

I would like to see a Brightline North between Boston and Chicago. There is the perfect highway the I-90 they could put it in the middle of and connect cites like Springfield, Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, Erie, Cleveland, Toledo, and South Bend, and in turn help boost their economies.

[@lordy1952]

Please expand brightline east to tampa

[@buildintotrains]

They're working on it but desantis just shot down initial funding for it 😒

[@ryantaylor1820]

@@buildintotrainsbecause he’s corrupt

[@buildintotrains]

@@ryantaylor1820 exactly, and he just hates progress in general

[@scottg8660]

​@buildintotrains it's a private company.

[@ryantaylor1820]

@@scottg8660 i mean he’s probably got the car makers putting money in his pocket as well

[@simonquemo7525]

I love the train, I've taken the amtrak a few times but it definitely needs to update to more cities

[@MrJuvefrank]

You're right; however, it's difficult for Amtrak to provide service to any city it wants because it has to pay track rental fees more often than not. Some railroads raise the fees too high because they don't want passenger trains getting in the way of their freight trains.

[@kenng1704]

I just wonder how many interstate routes between major cities that still have wide median that accomodates two- track high speed rail. If the US still have, then the US could replicate quickly the build of the Rancho Cucamanga- Las Vegas Brightline line to other states. Interstate 15 has wide median that has removed many right of way and environmental issues that have slow down tremendously or make projects more financially expensive to bulid.

[@mrxman581]

Exactly. And Brightline didn't even conduct the original EIR. They simply updated the existing ones that took years to do by a different company. BTW, the 15 highway median varies significantly in width which is one reason much of the track will be single tracked. Personally, I've never heard of a HSR route be placed in the median of a congested highway and single tracked. Seems like a recipe for disaster going at HSR speeds of 150+ mph. CAHSR is not taking the cheap way out by comparison. For one, the entire route will be double tracked. Mark my word, CAHSR will be the preeminent HSR train in North America.

[@brucehicks5817]

The Texas triangle has been overdue for need of high speed rail.

[@ljacobs357]

Republicans and Southwest Airlines don't like rail.

[@brucehicks5817]

@@ljacobs357 preach!

[@Furtivo95]

124 years too late! A gift for Gen Z.

[@morganboutwell8231]

Gen z is nearing 30. Gen A more like it

[@gamertimefriend1286]

@@morganboutwell8231 delusional, oldest is 29, youngest is 14

[@MrJuvefrank]

You remember what things were like 124 years ago?! I bet most people had cars back then, but some still used a horse and carriage. I read about some beautiful steam locomotives people used back then.

[@Furtivo95]

@@MrJuvefrank In 1803, British engineer, Richard Trevithick invented the first steam locomotive . America though led the industrial revolution and we were a railroad powerhouse expanding our lines across the country by the 1860s, far ahead of Asia and Europe. By the 1920s, Los Angeles was the west coast capital of electric urban railway trollies/railways! To answer your question, most people 124 years ago DID NOT HAVE CARS! Ford sold its first cars in 1903 and very few, they were slow, unreliable and expensive toys of the rich! Freeways didn't even exist haha!

[@fantasticalhistory4285]

Can't wait🎉

[@XxXenosxX]

Vegas about to boom

[@scottg8660]

Lol

[@mrxman581]

And yet they are already experiencing water shortage issues as it is.

[@tonyburzio4107]

Brightline is buying large amounts of land at the new international airport.

[@stickynorth]

Which one the second Las Vegas International? Of course it is.. I believe that's where they plan to build their OEM/train shed....

[@CNM3]

Next area should be Texas triangle. Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Austin. That one is a no brainer for the state.

[@mrxman581]

But you already have private homeowners against HSR in Texas because they'll need to build new ROWs like they did in California. That means buying private property.

[@vgshwk]

It would be nice if you could get a hook up to lax for international travelers.

[@mrxman581]

The CEO of Brightline already said that's not happening. They will rely on Metrolink regional commuter train service.

[@vgshwk]

@@mrxman581 well living in Vegas that is the only time I see la is if I am flying out of lax internationaly

[@amunra5330]

Hahahahahohojohaha….oh wait the car industry allowed this?

[@jrreichart]

I've been saying for years that the negative green space in the middle of highways is the best place to build high-speed rails effectively and quickly across the entire US. Finally some sense! It's what the French did with their Paris tramways along the old walls that surround the city...

[@maoliu6984]

Railway needs to go relatively straight line. Highway has relatively tight turns so the middle zone/highway cannot be used.

[@mrxman581]

A tram or city metro is a very different animal from a HSR train. Completely different construction requirements. I don't know of any HSR route built in the middle of a congested highway. And BLW will be mostly single tracked in the sections it can go the fastest. Just doesn't make sense, but it could be because the 15 median is not very wide in certain sections.

[@nsebast]

It will be done in 2050!

[@scottg8660]

Troll farm for an electric train lol

[@ortegaperu8510]

Americans! Which corridors for HSR are there in the US? Write in the comments!

[@TinLeadHammer]

It will not go from LA to Vegas, sadly. It will go from RC to Enterprise. You should make it from LA Union Station to the Strip, otherwise it will be no fun at all.

[@Djamonja]

I assume those places are on the outskirts of LA and Vegas? I'm sure it saved a huge amount of money to do that, and that the cities can set up other transit systems to connect to them from the airports or other transit hubs.

[@mrxman581]

​@@DjamonjaIt becomes much less efficient to depend on conventional train connections LA Union Station to RC-75 min RC to Vegas station 125 min Vegas Station to casino 20 min 2 train transfers 20 min That's a total travel time of 240 minutes. That would be about the fastest you could do it considering the train transfers. That is 4 hours total from Union Station in LA to your casino hotel. And, I didn't even include the travel time to Union Station which could vary tremendously. I've driven that route dozens of times and regularly do it in less than 4 hours. Lastly, is the issue of cost which could be around $75 each way based on an average when you calculate the per mile cost which would be between $50-$100 for the length of this route. The price would probably fluctuate between those two prices depending on demand. I would pay $50 each way to try it once considering I would still need to purchase a Metrolink ticket. No way would I pay $100 each way. I'd rather use that money to gamble.

[@saladman8745]

Hate that brightline is going to have a monopoly on this, need some other train companies plz!

[@ryantaylor1820]

All we need is one project completed to propel the others

[@matthew3136]

This isn’t Tokyo. There will never be a full market for rail travel. This project is a scam that will fail when it’s half way done and then plundered all the leftover money and then the government will step in and bail it out.

[@MrJuvefrank]

In the late 1960's Union Pacific gave up on the Holliday Special, a train they used to provide passenger service from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, and in the mid 1990's Amtrak gave up on the Desert Wind, another train that provided passenger service to and from the same cities, even though the Desert Wind provided continuing service to Chicago. As long as Union Pacific owns the tracks from Las Vegas to Barstow, California, it will try to prohibit railroads form providing passenger service to Las Vegas by raising the track rental fees to an unfair price. This is why Amtrak gave up on it.

[@mrxman581]

​@@MrJuvefrankVery good point.

[@kenofken9458]

High speed rail has been 30 years away for every one of the last 30 years. Train service was faster in 1940 than it is now.

[@thunderdemonlover]

I want to more high speed .Please use better engine . Please build Railway for future engine . Max Speed 350 kmh And Mini Speed 300 kmh

[@jonathanhall5836]

This Bloomberg reporter sounds uncannily like Jon Stewart

[@ScrewyDriverTheMan]

One big earthquake that causes warping or derailment that cuts off service for a few weeks or months will be its deathbed in Cali, as the infrastructure and support is so lacking to fix anything quickly enough, this ain't Japan where they have all in place to do all the fixes in a heartbeat, and we're talking about ONE line, ONE LINE!!!!

[@mrxman581]

Not sure about BLW construction, but CAHSR decided early on to over engineer all the essential structures to withstand significant earthquakes. It's one of the reasons it's not inexpensive. They're building it to last 100 years.

[@ScrewyDriverTheMan]

@@mrxman581 It's being built between the freeway median LMAO and it'll be electric, with those pissy little electric poles and wires. Ever seen the wind whip through this area? Just watch the semi-trucks topple over with pieces of them and other junk into the median and block the track if not mangling the poles and wires

[@burkhardproksch637]

@@ScrewyDriverTheMan these poles and wires will withstand more than these scrap houses that are being swept away

[@ScrewyDriverTheMan]

Just saying, all they have is ONE line here for this to Vegas. If one little glitch happens the whole thing will shut down and there is no alternative, and the delays will be so immense, it's not like they can put you on another thing unlike at the airports LMAO

[@burkhardproksch637]

@@ScrewyDriverTheMan Now you always have risks that can happen. In a car, the biggest risk is the person themselves. With trains and Airplanes, it's the people but also the technology. If the technology fails, people can no longer intervene. But the best technology is no good if the human being fails, and that has happened often enough. You can't protect yourself against it.

[@flexpostal]

Biden is the best president ever!!!!!!!!!

[@crowmob-yo6ry]

I'll never understand why some people hate Biden and worship Trump.

[@gnryushi]

@@crowmob-yo6ry I'll never understand how people actually think Biden is a good president. Wait, you guys DON'T think.

[@ssuwandi3240]

Exactly. Post things like "good interview, thanks", " "she's cute', and ,"lock him up"😊 and "Donnie fail fail" 😂😂 WTF 4yo are allowed to vote!!

[@StefanWithTrains3222]

​@gnryushi Could you ACTUALLY explain that? Biden has literally saved the US economy and is creating jobs left and right. Infrastructure is getting upgraded and built.

[@cameronf3343]

@@gnryushi Biden’s the first time that anything positive’s gotten done since JFK and LBJ. He’s the best we’ve had in over half a century!!

[@mrxman581]

This IS NOT the first HSR train to be built in America. That designation belongs to CAHSR which started construction in 2015. This project would not be going forward if it wasn't for the $3 billion in federal grant, and the additional U.S. DOT APPROVAL OF $2.5 BILLION IN PRIVATE ACTIVITY BONDS.

[@matthew3136]

This should be a publicly owned project. Nationalize rail so that when this goes bankrupt, they don’t ask for a bailout and we pay twice the price.

[@MrJuvefrank]

I hardly ever hear of a passenger train railroad that isn't broke these days. It is just difficult or impossible for them to stay alive if they have to depend on themselves.

[@mrxman581]

​@@MrJuvefrankIt can be done. The NEC is profitable.

[@MrJuvefrank]

@@mrxman581 Good, I'm glad to hear it.

[@AndyonBlast]

So much crime will come to Las Vegas it’s gonna be a mess

[@MrJuvefrank]

Only rich criminals will be allowed to board that train.

[@mrxman581]

Without the money coming from SoCal customers Vegas would literally dry up.

[@burkhardproksch637]

Crime will not increase or decrease, as it is already very high in the USA.

[@dimaatik]

the conservatives and the far right are on the CRINGE🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣