Brightline West, a private provider of intercity passenger rail service, recently reached an agreement with several craft rail unions to use highly skilled union labor in jobs required to operate and maintain its $10 billion California rail project.
The company signed a memorandum with the High-Speed Rail Labor Coalition, comprised of 13 rail unions representing more than 160,000 freight, regional, commuter, and passenger railroad workers in the United States.
“Our nation’s first high-speed rail system will be operated and maintained by union labor, a statement of the strength of the American workforce,” said Mike Reininger, Brightline Holdings CEO. “As the most shovel-ready high-speed rail project in the United States, we are one step closer to leveling the playing field against transit and infrastructure projects around the world, and we are proud to be using America’s most skilled workers to get there.”
Brightline West will be a fully electric, emission-free, 218-mile system connecting Las Vegas and Southern California within the Interstate 15 right-of-way with trains capable of speeds of 200 miles per hour.
During construction, the project will create nearly 35,000 jobs and more than $10 billion in economic impact.
Once operational, the system is expected to create more than 1,000 permanent jobs and remove 3 million cars from roadways and 400,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere annually.