Train project hasn’t lost steam: Officials remain optimistic about high-speed travel to L.A.-area

Benjamin Grove

Friday, April 20, 2001 | 11:12 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- The plan to construct a futuristic high-speed train route from Las Vegas to Southern California is still on track, even after project leaders in January lost a bid for nearly $1 billion in federal money, officials said this week.

Since then, California-Nevada Super Speed Train Commissioners have regrouped, hatched a plan to pool private money sources, and remained hopeful the federal money could be theirs after all.

"The bottom line is: This is starting to move forward," Commissioner Joe Stein said. "This is going to go."

Officials in the two states for 20 years have dreamed of developing the first magnetically propelled train in America. They still envision a 300-mph train hovering 10 centimeters above a single track, whisking tourists through the desert between Las Vegas and Anaheim, Calif., past traffic tied up on Interstate 15.

But officials suffered a major setback when they lost a competition with six other areas of the country vying for $950 million from the U.S. Transportation Department. In the final week of the Clinton administration, then-Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater chose two finalists to compete for the money: a Washington-to-Baltimore route and one in Pittsburgh.

Nevada backers aren't giving up on that cash, though. They insist the Las Vegas-to-Anaheim project is still in the running, even though Slater chose the other projects. They argue their project is the cheapest and easiest to build.

They hope the new administration, including California native and current Transportation Secretary Norm Mineta, will give them another look.

"We continue to believe that we are the best project to go first," said Neil Cummings, general counsel for the American Magline Group, a partner with the train commission.

And support for the project in Congress may be building, one lobbyist said. Lawmakers ultimately have appropriating power for transportation projects.

"Nevada is still, today, in the best position for immediate construction," said Rick Alcalde, a Washington lobbyist for the train project.

A key lawmaker, House Transportation Committee Chairman Don Young, R-Alaska, has said he supports constructing a high-speed train in the West. He has said he wants to "revisit" the selection of Washington-Baltimore and Pittsburgh.

But overturning the directive of a transportation secretary is no easy task, said Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., who is the top-ranked Democrat on the Environment and Public Works Committee, which reviews projects such as "maglev."

"From our understanding, this administrative decision has already been made," Reid spokesman Nathan Naylor said. "The only way Nevada could participate is if Pennsylvania or Maryland decided not to spend the money, and from our point of view that is unlikely."

Still, Reid and Nevada's delegation vow to look for other federal money for the project.

Meanwhile backers are aggressively pursuing other options. They say that with a combination of private and an undetermined amount of federal money, they could break ground next year on the first 42-mile, $1.3 billion leg of the "maglev" route between Las Vegas and Primm.

After that, they hope the federal government will see the viability of the project and pay for at least part of the 272-mile, $6.8 billion route to Anaheim.

On Wednesday the commission got good news when the Nevada Senate voted to give the commission statutory authority to seek private bond money. The issue goes to the Assembly.

Sen. Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, a member of the train commission who introduced the bill, said bonds were a creative way to pay for part of the project. But the federal funds are still vital to the project, Titus said.

"When you look at our project based on the merits, it's overwhelmingly so much better," Titus said. "I hate to concede that we're not competitive (for federal funds). The big challenge is getting that big pot of money appropriated."

Of the $1.3 billion needed for the Las Vegas-to-Primm leg, about $500 million could come from the bonds, Cummings said. The bonds are essentially loans from private financial groups that the commission would agree to pay back with revenue generated by the train.

The remaining money could come from other sources, such as Germany. It first developed the Transrapid Maglev system, the technology used for the train, and German officials are looking for other places to use it.

Cummings said another option is a separate loan from the Transportation Department under the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act, which doles out direct loans, credit lines and loan guarantees to public and private projects. Several insiders said getting that money is a long-shot.

But other private investment groups may be interested, Cummings said. The lure of the train's technology, demonstrated in Germany, is irresistible, Cummings said.

"Once you ride the train, you're sold," he said. "You're a believer."