From Sin City To The City Of Angels, Building Starts On High-Speed Rail Line

FILE - A Brightline train is shown at a station in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Jan. 11, 2018. A fast-tracked plan to build a high-speed passenger rail line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area is set to mark the start of construction. Brightline West and U.S. transportation secretary and other officials projecting that millions of ticket-buyers will be boarding trains by 2028. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Groundbreaking on a $12 billion high-speed passenger rail line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area is just about here.

A ceremony by Brightline West is set for Monday in Las Vegas with U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

The company plans to have trains running by 2028 from just south of the Las Vegas Strip to a commuter rail hub in Rancho Cucamonga, California.

The track will be laid in the median of Interstate 15, where motorists sitting in traffic jams would see trains whisk past at speeds comparable to Japan’s bullet trains.

A Brightline sister company already operates a fast train between Miami and Orlando in Florida.