Las Vegas Market Watch
Richard Branson's High-speed Train Between California and Las Vegas Is One Step Closer to Reality (Video)
The long-promised train from California to Las Vegas is one step closer to reality.
According to the local NBC News 3 Las Vegas, Clark County officials have approved permits for a new station built by Virgin Trains USA. The proposed station, documents showed, will be located at the corner of Diamond Road and Las Vegas Boulevard.
Eater further reported, the documents revealed Virgin’s plans to build a two-story train station, which will sit directly across the street from the Las Vegas South Premium Outlets.
The ground floor of the building will include space for five retail and dining operators, along with plenty of outdoor space for dining as well. According to Eater, the upstairs will include more dining and shopping, along with two lounges for economy class and a lounge for first-class passengers.
The plans, Eater added, include space for the fully electric train, which will also have a terminal in Victorville, California, a town located about 60 miles outside of Los Angeles. It will then travel 180 miles to and from Las Vegas, taking just 90 minutes total to reach its destination, cutting the drive time between the destinations in half. Virgin is hoping to have the project completed and fully operational by 2023.
However, as Dezeen reported, the entire project and opening dates are currently pending approval from the US Federal Railroad Administration.
But, that shouldn’t be too big of a battle considering the state of California already approved a $3.25 billion bond request for the project, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, reported. The paper added, Terry Reynolds, Nevada's Department of Business Director, confirmed that materials for the railway and station are already being secured. The entire train will likely cost around $4.8 billion to complete.
Of course, this isn’t the only train project Branson has in the works. For those who can’t wait to get on a Virgin train in the United States, the company will soon open its railway from Miami to Orlando too.
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