sun editorial:

New life for fast train

Grant revs up talk of high-speed rail from here to Southern California

Tuesday, June 10, 2008 | 2:05 a.m.

President Bush signed legislation that is reviving talk of a high-speed train between Las Vegas and Southern California.

The transportation “technical corrections bill” includes $45 million to study environmental issues along the first leg of a route, proposed by a public-private partnership, from Las Vegas to Primm.

Wording in the 2005 highway bill contained errors that held up the money until Congress passed the corrections bill and Bush signed it Friday.

A second, private proposal to build a high-speed train was developed after 2005 and remains a contender in the push to whisk travelers to and from Las Vegas and cities near Los Angeles.

The federal money approved Friday will go to the California-Nevada Super Speed Train Commission and its private-sector partner, the American Magline Group.

This partnership is proposing a train using magnetic levitation technology. This “MagLev” plan gained traction 20 years ago and has received about $10 million in federal money.

A MagLev train would allow passengers to travel at an average speed of 180 mph on its 268-mile route ending in Anaheim, Calif., home of Disneyland. It would cost more than $12 billion.

The private proposal is from a company called DesertXpress Enterprises and is projected to cost about $3 billion. Though high-tech, the train would use more conventional rail technology and reach a top speed of 125 mph as it traversed the 190 miles between Las Vegas and Victorville, Calif.

Both proposals anticipate ridership levels that would allow the project to more than pay for itself. A completed project would have the additional advantage of serving as a model for other congested areas of the country.

Federal transportation officials will ultimately decide which, if either, of these projects gets built. Rights of way over federal land have to be decided and the environmental impacts carefully reviewed.

Barring any significant environmental problems, our view is that a high-speed train between Las Vegas and Southern California is becoming necessary for the economies of both regions.

Discussion: 4 comments so far…

By That_Anonymous_Guy

6/10/08 at 11:02 a.m.

Suggest removal

A MagLev train in 10 to 20 years would be great. But we don't have 10 to 20 years -- we need to give people a cheaper and easier way to get to Las Vegas, and we need it yesterday.

It is unbelievable that Las Vegas does not have traditional passenger rail service. Drive to Kingman to catch a train? You've got to be kidding me.

Get the Amtrak trains running again.
By markwg

6/10/08 at 7:24 p.m.

Suggest removal

Maglev is definitely a choice for FUTURE transportation due to high oil prices, low maintenance cost (approx 35 cents per mile VS 5$ per mile for conventional train)... MAGLEV can replace airplanes, cars, conventional trains...
MAGLEV is only a one time billions of dollars of investment... but still better than people spent billions of dollars on OIL EVERYDAY!

Think about this: let's say 100 years from today, all oil are used up, or oil prices will hit 1000$ per barrell, then who can afford to travel by airplane? or driving? no one afford this $$$.

Maglev is definitely the best transportation system in the future.

May be one day... we have a chance to see a MAGLEV travelling from New York to San Francisco!
By rafael

6/11/08 at 4:45 p.m.

Suggest removal

30% of all flights into McCurran are from California cities that will be served by European or Japanese high speed trains featuring steel wheels. Therefore:

Cancel Maglev
Cancel DesertXPress
Cancel Ivanpah Valley Airport

Instead, IFF California voters approve their state bond measure in November, push for a spur from Mojave to Las Vegas, bypassing Barstow to the north. Much of the EIR/EIS work has already been done for DesertXPress. No additional expensive mountain crossing into the LA Basin would be required.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&a...

There would be no stops between Bakersfield or Palmdale Airport and Las Vegas. Trains could traverse the 200 mile spur in as little as an hour. The trains could run on solar thermal and/or hydro power generated in Nevada, completely eliminating dependence on oil as well as CO2 emissions.

Trains could run to Anaheim plus San Diego, San Francisco and Sacramento. That additional connectivity is worth far more than the relatively minor technical advantages offered by maglev, which remains untested in commercial operation except for a single, short, money-losing stretch serving Shanghai Airport.

No on-board gambling would be allowed while trains are on California soil. However, broadband internet access, personal video-on-demand, live entertainment and top-notch meals would be available in a "High Roller Class".

To alleviate congestion at McCurran beyond the reduction in flights to and from California, long-distance travelers could book flights into and out of Palmdale Airport with a connecting train to Las Vegas. This would be analogous to United Airlines' GroundLink in France.

http://www.united.com/page/article/0,672...

Note that the state of California will not spend a penny on a spur to Las Vegas, though there would be opportunities to pool purchasing power. Funding would have to come from the city of Las Vegas, Clark county, the state of Nevada, the federal government and/or private investors.
By Sunlizard

2/22/09 at 7:37 a.m.

Suggest removal

45 million for a study? For just Primm to Vegas? My we do have money to waste, don't we??