New Amtrak service coming

Friday, July 31, 1998 | 11:18 a.m.

One of the casino companies financing Michael Conway's National Airlines also is on track to help resurrect Amtrak service to Southern Nevada.

Officials with Rio Hotel & Casino Inc., who announced on Thursday that they have invested $15 million in the new airline that is expected to begin operations in early 1999, is also committed to buying tickets on Amtrak's Talgo train project.

The high-speed train would link Los Angeles and Las Vegas with a 5 1/2-hour run. Coordinators for the train project, first announced late last year, say the inaugural run is still at least six months away. It's possible National Airlines will begin flying and the Talgo train will begin carrying passengers within months of each other.

"We've been committed to the project from the very beginning," said Thomas A. Roberts, vice president of development and leasing for the Rio hotel-casino. "We continue to be in discussions with Amtrak regarding the planning of service and the construction of a central Strip train station adjacent to or on our property."

Another company that is firmly committed to the train proposal is Primadonna Resorts Inc., which operates three resort properties at Primm, about 40 miles south of Las Vegas on the California state line.

"No platforms or receiving stations have been built yet," said Mike Villamor, chief operating officer for Primadonna Resorts, "but we're looking at a site about a half mile east of Buffalo Bill's (hotel-casino) where passengers can get off the train and shuttle over to the resort."

Villamor said the train would complement Primadonna's two newest amenities, a pair of golf courses south of the resort and a 400,000-square-foot factory outlet mall attached to the Primm Valley hotel-casino.

Rogich Communications Group is coordinating efforts between Oakland, Calif.-based Amtrak West, federal government agencies and the gaming industry representatives. Sig Rogich of Rogich Communications is on Primadonna's board of directors.

A spokeswoman for Rogich said engineering and planning are under way for the improvements necessary for the track. Once that is completed, it will take about six months to physically complete the infrastructure improvements.

In the meantime, Rogich officials continue to negotiate with MGM Grand Inc., Circus Circus Enterprises and the Boyd Gaming Group for financial support for the Talgo project.

Boyd was one of the top supporters of the train project when it was announced initially, but enthusiasm has cooled as some of the details of federal government participation have emerged.

Don Snyder, president of Boyd Gaming and a member of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority board of directors, said he continues to be big supporter of both the train and the National Airlines plan, as a casino executive and as a member of the LVCVA board.

However, he is convinced that federal government backing is critical to the success of the train and he is not convinced that commitment is strong enough.

"I'm very supportive of all methods of getting more visitors into town," Snyder said. "Additional air service, rail service and improvements to Interstate 15 will help this. But I'm concerned that the support for Amtrak doesn't have a broad enough base.

"In just about every Amtrak success story, the federal government has had a key role. But in this case, the private sector is being asked to shoulder more of the responsibility. It's that lack of a broad base that caused us to back away from this a little."

In February, Amtrak announced a $9 million commitment to upgrade tracks and build platforms to accommodate the high-tech tilt trains. The gaming industry, meanwhile, is being counted on to subsidize the operational expenses of the train.

That amounts to a guarantee of between 70 and 80 percent of about 330 seats a day at $100 per round-trip ticket, or an investment of about $8 million.

The Talgo train service would be Amtrak's first venture into Southern Nevada since May 1997 when the company discontinued its three-times-a-week Desert Wind run, which transported passengers between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City.

The 5 1/2-hour estimated run time is about two hours faster than the former Desert Wind Amtrak service and a half hour faster than an express bus.

On busy holiday weekends, the trip between Los Angeles and Las Vegas can take as long as 10 hours and traffic on jammed-up I-15 slows to an average speed of 35 mph.

The Talgo passenger liner's tilt technology allows it to corner easier on curves, making it capable of achieving speeds of up to 120 mph. The track between Las Vegas and Los Angeles is rated only for speeds of up to 79 mph, which is why infrastructure improvements are needed.

Grade crossings are programmed with warning lights and crossing barriers activated in advance of a train's presence. If the train exceeds the 79 mph threshold, it would present a danger to motorists and pedestrians at those crossings.

A train set, produced specifically for the L.A.-Las Vegas run, is being built by Patentes Talgo SA of Madrid, Spain.

"Talgo" is a Spanish acronym incorporating the words tren (train), articulado (articulated -- put together by joints), ligero (light, for the low weight-to-passenger ratio), Goicoechea (the name of the engineer who invented it) and Oriol (the financier of the prototype).

Talgo already has delivered a 10-car train set, painted in a silver, black and blue scheme, to Seattle where seats, air conditioning and other amenities are being installed.

If the train project is successful , it is expected to draw 2,300 gamblers a week to the city.