Trains are expected to reach a top speed of 200 miles per hour between Las Vegas and Los Angeles ©Brightline West

Work on a high-speed rail network connecting Las Vegas to Los Angeles is set to begin later this year with the hope of it being completed in time for the 2028 Olympics and Paralympics.

Rail company Brightline West has recently announced an agreement with the High-Speed Labor Coalition to build the $10 billion (£8.5 billion/€9.5 billion) project.

According to reports in the United States, construction on the high-speed rail service is set to start later in the year and be open in 2027 - one year before Los Angeles is due to stage the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Once built, the network will connect 218 miles between Las Vegas and Los Angeles with trains expected to reach a top speed of 200 miles per hour.

Brightline West said the expected travel time would be two hours 15 minutes which is two times faster than driving.

With zero-emission, all-electric trains set to be used, Brightline West believes that the service will reduce three million vehicles a year which, it claims, is the equivalent of cutting 400,000 tons of CO2.

"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, chief executive of Brightline Holdings.

The high-speed rail service is scheduled to be completed by 2027 ©Brightline West
The high-speed rail service is scheduled to be completed by 2027 ©Brightline West

"As the most shovel-ready high-speed rail project in the United States, we are one step closer to levelling 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."

There are set to be stations near the Las Vegas Strip as well as Rancho Cucamonga in Apple Valley and Hesperia in California.

Brightline West has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with High-Speed Rail Labor Coalition which comprises of 13 rail unions representing more than 160,000 freight, regional, commuter, and passenger railroad workers in the US.

"The High-Speed Rail Labor Coalition is proud to be in partnership with Brightline West in this historic project," a statement from the High-Speed Rail Labor Coalition read.

"Americans want high-speed rail, and Brightline West and the High-Speed Rail Labor Coalition will deliver.

"Brightline West will be the most elegant travel by rail experience you can have in America, and it will be the catalyst for America’s renaissance of travel by high-speed rail.

"The High-Speed Rail Labor Coalition is ready to bring this transformative transportation project to Americans.

"Let’s get to work."