You have probably heard that a bullet train, a high-speed train that can go up to about 250 mph, is coming to Southern California in the near future. The company Brightline West will be creating a high-speed rail network connecting Rancho Cucamonga to Las Vegas. When traveling by the Brightline West network, the trip from Rancho to Las Vegas would take a little over two hours. Brightline West is going to be using an all-electric bullet train. Brightline West’s goal is to remove emissions from gas-powered vehicles by reducing traffic. They plan to remove about 400k or more tons of CO2 each year, reducing traffic by 700M or fewer vehicles traveled each year. They also want to support Nevada’s and California’s climate strategy, along with maintaining and improving pre-existing wildlife crossings. Brightline West explains on their Project Overview located on their homepage, “This 218-mile passenger rail service will operate from Las Vegas to Rancho Cucamonga, California, with 96% of its alignment within the median of the I-15 highway.” As of right now, there will be four stations, located in Las Vegas, Victor Valley, Hesperia, and last but not least Rancho Cucamonga. For the past few decades companies along with the government have been trying to make the idea of bullet trains a reality for California and other states. But their most prominent issue was funding. These projects cost billions of dollars and it can be hard to convince the government to fund projects like Brightline West’s. The Biden administration is giving more than $6 billion to California for the high-speed rail network, and the federal government is providing $3 billion. Back in 2008, California voters gave their blessing for a 500-mile high-speed rail project which was estimated to cost around $30 billion and be up and running by 2020. However, the project wasn’t started until early 2015 and is still in development moving at a very slow rate due to the immense cost of $128 billion. The projected price stated in 2008 skyrocketed within a decade putting the project about $95 billion over budget and a few years behind schedule. Only about $25 billion has been noted by state officials. Brightline West is supposed to break ground in early 2024 and hopefully be finished by the time Los Angeles hosts the Summer Olympics in 2028.