Brightline West and the CA State Treasurer

An interesting read, and an interesting mention of CA HSR: https://amp.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... california

Music, booze, gambling – the old Los Angeles-Las Vegas rail had it all. Can a new high-speed project fill the void?
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Perhaps most strikingly, Brightline has proved adept at winning political support for its plans and is now in line for a $3.75bn federal grant through Joe Biden’s signature infrastructure bill that would allow construction to begin this summer. (The rest of the projected $12bn budget will be raised by Brightline’s parent company, a major private equity fund called the Fortress Investment Group.)
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Perhaps most strikingly, Brightline has proved adept at winning political support for its plans and is now in line for a $3.75bn federal grant through Joe Biden’s signature infrastructure bill that would allow construction to begin this summer. (The rest of the projected $12bn budget will be raised by Brightline’s parent company, a major private equity fund called the Fortress Investment Group.)
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Ma, the state treasurer, has similarly high hopes for what could follow from a successful and profitable LA-Las Vegas route. She hopes, first of all, that it will force changes on the California high-speed line – whether that means an act of the legislature or another ballot initiative – to remove some of the strictures that have proved unworkable and, if she has her way, to open the project up to private as well as public investment. She disclosed that she has told Brightline’s leadership: “One day you will run the system.”
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The headline is a crock of ****. Booze, yes. The lounge cars of the limited trains were famous for their hospitality.

Music? Show me a dome, a flat top streamline lounge, or a heavyweight lounge of UP that had music.

Gambling? UP worked hard to keep card sharps off their trains. There were card rooms, and I bet some games happened in drawing rooms, but no money went to UP.