Federal funding unlikely for train

Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2004 | 10:47 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The proposed high-speed train between Las Vegas and Anaheim, Calif., is not likely to receive federal funds, a legislative committee was told Tuesday.

Jeff Fontaine, director of the state Transportation Department, said the Federal Railway Administration favors similar applications for more expensive proposals in Baltimore and Pittsburgh, apparently because those routes through urban and more populated areas could be expected to draw more passengers.

But Fontaine said he has not given up hope that the Las Vegas project could get some federal funding.

Fontaine and others backing the magnetic levitation, or maglev, train said the Las Vegas route was the most feasible and would cost less per mile to construct.

But it will be a "political challenge" to get the money, said Neil Cummings, president of the American Magline Group that is partnering with the California-Nevada Super Speed Grand Transportation Commission.

Cummings said the Railway Administration favors the two projects in the East. Congress holds the key. Federal lawmakers will get to decide whether the Transportation Act, which is expected to be passed in the next few months, will include money for any high-speed train.

Congress also could designate a route for the funding or could leave the site selection to the Railway Administration.

Cummings said he hoped Congress would pass the bill for $1 billion for the first "starter" project, which in Nevada would run from Las Vegas to Primm.

There is already $350,000 available to start the environmental impact study, Fontaine said. The URS Corp. has been chosen as the consultant for the study, which will be done in phases, he said.

The total cost of the environmental impact statement will be between $5 million and $7 million, Fontaine said.

Cummings said it would cost $30 million a mile to build the 269-mile Las Vegas-Anaheim route compared with $80 million a mile for the ones in the urban areas of the East.

Jim Caviola, vice president of Parsons Transportation, another part of the joint venture, said it would cost $1.3 billion to build the Las Vegas-Primm project. But it would make an estimated $51 million in profit a year because the construction money would not have to be repaid to the federal government, officials said.

The California-Nevada commission would issue $350 million in revenue bonds to help build the project. Those bonds would be paid off from the fares.

The magnetic levitation train would reduce the travel time between Las Vegas and Anaheim to 86 minutes by barreling along at up to 300 mph, Bruce Aguilera, chairman of the California-Nevada commission, said. And the fare would be less than an airline ticket, he said. While this is a long-term project, legislators were already talking about extending the maglev train inside Nevada. Sen. Ray Rawson, R-Las Vegas, suggested consideration be given to connecting it to Mesquite. He said that leg would accommodate many people who live in Mesquite and work in Las Vegas.