Nevada wants back in hunt for train project

Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2001 | 11:17 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Nevada lawmakers already are appealing to the Bush administration to re-consider a proposal to establish a futuristic high-speed train between Las Vegas and Primm.

The route was unfairly cut out of the competition for nearly $1 billion in federal money, Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said in a letter Monday to President Bush's Transportation Secretary-nominee Norman Mineta. His confirmation hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.

"I am extremely disappointed that the Las Vegas Maglev project, whose credentials far exceed those of the other projects, was not included in the down selection process," Berkley wrote to Mineta, a California Democrat. "I am asking that you reconsider the selection process, and add a third and possibly fourth site to the list to ensure that the most qualified and meritorious projects are considered for federal funding."

President Clinton's transportation secretary, Rodney Slater, on Jan. 18 picked two magnetic levitation train proposals -- one in Pittsburgh and the other between Washington and Baltimore -- from seven that were vying for $950 million in start-up money. A finalist will be chosen in 2003, officials said. The train, which uses magnetic force to hurtle at speeds up to 300 miles per hour, would be the first of its kind in America.

The 40-mile, $1.3 billion Las Vegas-to-Primm route would be the first leg of a proposed route eventually linking Las Vegas and Anaheim. The flat desert route could be the least expensive of the seven and could be constructed in the fastest time, the proposal's supporters say.

DOT officials praised all seven proposals, but noted that one weakness with the Nevada proposal was its projected ridership statistics, based heavily on tourist estimates.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., also is contacting DOT officials to review the criteria used to select Pittsburgh and Washington-Baltimore. Reid, along with Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., also plan to seek additional federal funding for the Nevada project, aides said. Gibbons is an ally of Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, the new Transportation Committee chairman, who supports the Nevada project.