U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen recently announced that $3 billion in funding has been secured to begin construction of the Las Vegas to Southern California high-speed rail project.

According to a news release, the funding for the Brightline West high-speed rail system comes from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

According to Brightline, the expected travel time between Las Vegas and Los Angeles is approximately 2.5 hours. The zero-emission electric trains could carry 500 passengers at speeds of nearly 200 mph

The release states that the project will connect Las Vegas and Southern California, “which will help bolster Southern Nevada’s tourism economy and reduce congestion on the Interstate 15 corridor.”

Brightline West estimates the high-speed rail “will remove 3 million cars from I-15 annually, reducing more than 400,000 tons of carbon emissions each year, and creating 35,000 good-paying, union jobs.”

“This historic high-speed rail project will be a game changer for Nevada’s tourism economy and transportation. It’ll bring more visitors to our state, reduce traffic on the I-15, create thousands of good paying jobs, and decrease carbon emissions, all while relying on local union labor,” said Senator Rosen. “For decades, Nevadans have heard about the benefits of high-speed rail, and I’m proud to have led the charge for months to push the U.S. Department of Transportation to secure critical funding to make this a reality. I’ll always fight to support Nevada’s tourism economy and create good-paying, union jobs.”

Wes Edens, founder and chairman of Brightline, provided the below statement on the funding:

“We’re honored and humbled in the confidence President Biden, Secretary Buttigieg, Senator Rosen and so many others have placed in Brightline’s vision to bring true high-speed rail to America. This is a historic moment that will serve as a foundation for a new industry, and a remarkable project that will serve as the blueprint for how we can repeat this model throughout the country. We’re ready to get to work to bring our vision of American made, American built, world class, state-of-the-art high speed train travel to America.”

This article was originally written Caitlin Lilly and appeared here.