All aboard!

Fri, Apr 24, 2009 (2 a.m.)

Out here in the West, where there are great distances between cities, a reliable transportation network is crucial. This holds true not only for cars and trucks, but also for trains.

Some Western cities — Denver, Salt Lake City and San Diego among them — have adopted modes of rail transportation that give passengers an alternative to driving on congested highways and burning fuel that contributes to air pollution. Las Vegas, though, has fallen behind the times because it has no passenger rail service.

A window of opportunity for Southern Nevada opened last week when President Barack Obama announced a plan to spend $8 billion of the nation’s economic stimulus money on a high-speed passenger rail network. Those funds, which would be supplemented by $5 billion in federal spending over the next five years, would be spent on trains that would connect major cities.

“A major new high-speed rail line will generate many thousands of construction jobs over several years, as well as permanent jobs for rail employees and increased economic activity in the destinations these trains serve,” Obama said. “High-speed rail is long overdue, and this plan lets American travelers know that they are not doomed to a future of long lines at the airports or jammed cars on the highways.”

Las Vegas was not listed by the White House among the potential stops for this rail service. That is why Nevada’s congressional delegation, in conjunction with the Regional Transportation Commission, should fight as hard as possible to make sure that Las Vegas is included.

This might be the only opportunity Southern Nevada has in a long time to participate in a rail transportation project that would certainly provide a boost to commerce while also helping to clean up the environment.