President Joe Biden went to Las Vegas on Friday to say he’s “putting high-speed rail on the fast track,” and he used the moment to blast Donald Trump — his predecessor and likely 2024 challenger — as a do-nothing politician.

“Trump just talks the talk. We walk the walk,” Biden said at a hall for unionised carpenters. “He likes to say America is a failing nation. Frankly, he doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about. I see shovels in the ground, cranes in the sky. People hard at work rebuilding America together.”

The president showcased USD 8.2 billion in new federal funding for 10 major passenger rail projects across the country. He also emphasised the fundamental differences between Trump and himself, a sign that his policy speeches are taking an ever greater political bent with the election now roughly 11 months away.

The Democrat said Trump ‘failed’ to deliver on his promises to invest in US infrastructure. Biden countered that his rail funding could help to connect Las Vegas to Los Angeles via high-speed trains before LA hosts the summer Olympics in 2028, slashing travel times, helping the environment and creating jobs.

Biden hopes that investment through federal and state partnership programs will help to boost prospects for the long-discussed project, which supporters say could revitalise travel in the American West but critics argue is too costly.

The 350.8-kilometre train route linking Las Vegas and Rancho Cucamonga, California, about 65 kilometres east of downtown Los Angeles, may one day serve more than 11 million passengers annually.

Another electric rail line getting funding has been billed as the nation’s first high-speed route and is eventually planned to traverse California’s Central Valley and extend to San Francisco and on to Los Angeles, with trains reaching up to 354 kph.