Las Vegas Monorail test runs to begin

Friday, March 21, 2003 | 11:28 a.m.

The world's "sexiest" state-of-the-art transit system will begin test runs in Las Vegas next week.

The Las Vegas Monorail is, its builders say with pride, a rarity among big public works projects. It is ahead of schedule and under budget.

The $650 million privately funded project is not due to begin carrying passengers until January. But next week, the new blue and white, custom built monorail cars should move on their own for the first time when they begin making test runs.

"It's going to be the most up-to-date and advanced transit system in the world," said Rick Lerette, project director for Bombardier, the Canadian company building the cars and most of the system.

"And the sexiest," Lerette added. "Las Vegas deserves this system."

The short monorail that for seven years tied the MGM Grand and Bally's resorts together is no more -- a historical footnote that helped pave the way for the new system. The original monorail, about three-quarters of a mile long, was the seed that will grow to include the expanded system, a four-mile route that ties the Strip properties together, from Tropicana to Sahara avenues.

But fans of the original private system will see a much bigger, faster and more comfortable monorail. Unlike the old cars, which were trains once used at Walt Disney World, the new cars have the look and feel of a 21st-century transit system.

They will travel the route at an average of 25 mph, with a top speed on straightaways of 45 mph.

Todd Walker, spokesman for the nonprofit Las Vegas Monorail Co., on Thursday gave the Sun an exclusive first look inside the new cars inside the cavernous maintenance building on Sahara Avenue.

Comfortable padded chairs encircle the interior, which also has poles for standing riders. A distinctive "new car" smell envelops visitors.

Outside the maintenance facility, work crews gathered to lift what will be the eighth of 36 cars onto the track. Over the next six months, another car will join its brethren every week.

They will make the trip down from Bombardier's factory in Kingston, Ontario, a place where trains and planes are assembled and shipped around the world. It takes about six days for the truck to bring the car, nearly fully assembled, to Las Vegas, said driver Pascal Henri.

Along the way, people take notice.

"There are always questions on the CB," Pascal said, referring to the highway radio popular with truckers. "They're asking if it's a space shuttle."

Some people correctly guess that it is a monorail car -- part of the largest public monorail system to be built in the United States since 1971, and a system whose construction, funding and utility have made it a model for other cities, such as Seattle, considering their own monorail systems.

The system now appears to have solid support in the community. That was not always the case. The project was first suggested three decades ago.

And even in the mid-1990s, opposition from some quarters -- notably taxi drivers -- made the project far from a sure thing. But with backing from the Regional Transportation Commission, a partnership with most of the Strip casinos and the financial backing of several key resorts, the project moved forward.

"It is something that a lot of us thought would never happen," he said, looking up at the concrete and steel track snaking overhead.

The section under construction is already attracting gawking visitors -- and probably a few locals, too. Walker said the company actually has some concern that as the monorail cars continue their testing over the next year, drivers will be looking at the monorail cars above them rather than the cars driving around them.

Walker and his colleagues said the most important element of the construction may be its expandability.

The Las Vegas Monorail Co. and the Regional Transportation Commission are teaming up to expand the system to downtown, and seeking federal dollars for the work. Officials with both the company and the agency expect federal approval of the project -- a "record of decision" -- later this year for the downtown extension.

That means that construction on the Sahara to downtown segment can begin just at the current work is completed, Walker said. And people will be able to ride from Tropicana Avenue to Fremont Street by early 2007.

After that, the agency and the company have other plans. Eventually, they want the system to connect to the airport.

A key element of the plan to continue expanding the monorail system will be the success of the existing elements. Las Vegas Monorail Co. is banking on 20 million riders a year, all of whom will pay about $3 for a one-way ride on the system.

If the numbers add up, they will overcome any remaining doubts about the viability of the project. During debate over the issue in the late 1990s, opponents said the numbers were inflated, a charge that the proponents, among them the Clark County Commission, rejected.