Rancho Cucamonga, a car-centric city 40 miles east of Los Angeles, is positioning itself to become America’s first high-speed rail hub as Brightline breaks ground on its $12 billion Las Vegas-to-Southern California line, according to Bloomberg.

The private rail company plans to begin service in 2028, with trains reaching 200 mph and cutting the LA-Vegas journey to just over two hours. “There’s no precedent in the United States for this,” said Matt Burris, the city’s deputy city manager, regarding high-speed rail’s transformative potential.

Rendering of the planned high-speed rail station in Rancho Cucamonga. (Brightline)

The suburban city, which never developed a proper downtown, is creating the HART District—a square-mile area surrounding the future station designed for mixed-use development. “When it became clear to us that Brightline was coming, we came up with a specific plan for the whole area,” said City Manager John Gillison.

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8.6 Million Passengers Expected Annually

Brightline expects to serve up to 8.6 million passengers annually, converting millions of car trips to rail. The new Cucamonga Station will integrate with existing Metrolink service and include connections to Ontario International Airport.

Proposed route of the Brightline West high-speed rail line between Las Vegas and Southern California. (Brightline)

The project has already attracted investment. WestLAND Group relocated its headquarters to the city partly because of the rail project. “It’s going to not only create a lot of jobs in the area but I think it’s really going to put Rancho Cucamonga on the map,” said Matthew Okubo, one of the firm’s owners.

Read more at Bloomberg

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