[Symbolic railway spike]
Catherine Cortez Masto (interview): “In this region, particularly when we are creating for the first time, we are building the first high speed rail in this country, the region where it is California, Nevada. It’s a perfect place for us to build. That’s why it requires that partnership with the federal delegation, with our state partners, and with our private sector in building this high speed rail here.”
[Business and political figures hammer rail spikes]
Catherine Cortez Masto (interview): “Let me just say, this is a perfect example why we, I support public private partnerships. This is how it should work in the state. And at the end of the day, as we continue to work together to move forward, to make this a reality and have a final, final, really a spike pounding to open the doors and have this really putting it requires us to continue to stay in close communication, close to whatever challenges of barriers that may come our way in the next, what, five years we should continue to work together to overcome.”
[Sign showing how the rail was funded]
Vince Saaverdra (interview): “Obviously local hire, area standard pay. You know, the wage that prevails in the county that those wages are committed to be paid to the folks on the project. Brightline West has entered into what’s called the project labor agreement with building trades, which assures that all workers on the project will be hired at local hiring halls.”
[TV screen showing graphics of train]
Vince Saaverdra (interview): “I’m just excited and ready to put folks back to work. We got a lot of hungry families locally that are ready, you know, ready to get back to work.”
[Crowd of people]
Wes Eden (speech): “Hello. I’d like to welcome everybody, to the future home of Brightline West. I encourage everyone to take lots of photos out there because it will be unrecognizable when you show back up here a few years from now.”
[Railway spikes]
Wes Eden (speech): “We’re the only industrialized country in the world that doesn’t have a high speed rail in America. And four years from now, we won’t be seeing that anymore. So it’s truly historic.”
[US flag over Las Vegas strip]
Pete Buttigieg (speech): “When this line opens and Brightline West is working aggressively to meet their ambitious 2028 target, there’ll be million fewer cars stuck in traffic, so even if you don’t use it, you’ll be benefiting from the people who do. And because the 15 is such an important freight route that reduce congestion will have a material benefit to America’s supply chains. Everyone who lives near the 15 will breathe less pollution into their lungs, and everyone across the country will live in a climate with 800 million fewer pounds of carbon pollution. The pollution annually, which is a pretty good thing to note this Earth Day. This train will move people at 186 miles an hour between Southern California and Las Vegas in just over two hours, which is about half the time that it can sometimes take to drive on that road.”
[Pete Buttigieg in front of union workers]
[TV with train graphics]
This script was provided by The Associated Press.