Terror fears may boost high-speed rail project

Benjamin Grove

Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2001 | 9:47 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Backers of a plan to construct a 300-mph magnetic levitation train route between Las Vegas and Anaheim say fears of terrorism in the nation's skies have focused sharp new attention on high-speed trains in America.

Since the Sept. 11 attacks, key members of Congress are looking at trains in a new light, mobilizing in support of a network of super-speed trains, they said.

"While the traveling public slowly regains its confidence in aviation, passenger demand for rail service will reach and all-time high," House Railroad Transportation Subcommittee Chairman Jack Quinn, R-N.Y., said Tuesday. The Sept. 11 attacks "forever altered our transportation system," Quinn said.

Quinn spoke at a hearing for a bill that would funnel an unprecedented $71 billion to high-speed rail projects. The train projects will supplement airliners and create new jobs when America needs them, lawmakers said.

"What's now changed is the commitment of the federal government to make this happen," said Neil Cummings, president of the American Magline Group, a consortium of companies intent on developing the Las Vegas-Anaheim, Calif., proposal.

That proposal has been chugging along in the planning stages for years despite a lack of funding.

Planners say they could break ground within 18 months if they had the money -- roughly $8 billion for the 272-mile route. The route would be a boon to Las Vegas tourism and help unclog traffic on I-15, backers say.

Project organizers have long competed for federal dollars with six other maglev projects, most notably one between Washington and Baltimore and one in the Pittsburgh area. The Department of Transportation in January said those were best of the lot, naming them the two finalists in a grab for $950 million in federal startup money.

But officials with the California-Nevada group were undeterred, arguing they had the easiest route to develop -- a relatively straight, flat shot through the desert.

Members of the California-Nevada Super Speed Train Commission, who are shepherding the project, early last summer decided to spend more money lobbying for it, Commissioner Joe Stein said. Their outlay took on new consequence after the Sept. 11 attacks, which may have sparked new national debate about the need for high-speed trains, Stein said.

"We have always said that we had the best project," Stein said. "We must move people faster, more safely, more efficiently and at a cheaper cost, city-to-city, city center-to-city center."

Congress is considering two funding packages for states and groups that want to develop high-speed trains.

* As part of an economic stimulus package that could include new money for construction projects, lawmakers could approve as much as $1 billion for maglev trains for next year, plus another $1 billion for other high-speed train projects and roughly $3 billion for Amtrak security. Nevada Sen. Harry Reid, the No. 2 Senate Democrat and chairman of a key transportation subcommittee, is pushing for the money. "We have a good chance," Reid said. "We have an acknowledgement (in Congress) that transportation infrastructure is important."

* The $71 billion rail development bill considered in committee Tuesday sets aside $35 billion for loan programs and $36 billion in federally tax-exempt bonds for high-speed train projects. Project managers would have to apply for the money, which means more fierce competition for the California-Nevada group with other high-speed train proposals, most notably from Amtrak.

Amtrak ridership went up 17 percent during the week after the terrorist attacks. In recent days ridership has dropped closer to typical rates as airline passengers are returning, Amtrak officials said.

Still, air travel is more inconvenient now and travel times are longer, said Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Don Young, R-Alaska. He began drafting the $71 billion train bill this summer.

"I have believed for a long time that this is a neglected mode of transport, regardless of the spur provided by recent events," Young said in a statement.

It is unlikely the bill will pass this year, insiders said. Congress for now is focused on terrorism-related legislation and budget setting.

"But we have all of next year," Young spokesman Steve Hansen said. "This bill has a lot of juice."

Young is an "incredible ally" who has publicly vowed support for the California-Nevada proposal, said Washington lobbyist Rick Alcalde, who has been pushing the project in Congress. Reps. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., and Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., have lobbied the chairman for the proposal.

"Maglev now has life," Alcalde said. "We see ourselves in the catbird seat because of Congressman Young on one side and Sen. Reid on the other."