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Maglev train to press on without Reid
Planners ‘moving ahead’ despite senator’s defection to rival project
Tiffany Brown
Organizers of a maglev train system linking Las Vegas and Southern California say they are undeterred by the loss of Sen. Harry Reid’s support. From left are Neil Cummings, American Magline Group president; transportation consultant Kevin Coates; and Bruce Aguilera, chairman of a maglev train commission.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009 | 2 a.m.
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The fully electric DesertXpress trains would reach top speeds of 150 mph and travel 184 miles from Victorville, Calif., to Las Vegas in 84 minutes.
Sun Archives
- Reid sides with Desert Xpress fast train option (6-9-2009)
- State sends no representative to talk on high-speed trains (6-5-2009)
- Obama outlines vision for high-speed rail network (4-16-2009)
- 8 states seek stimulus money for high-speed rail (4-15-2009)
- No waste in rail dream (3-5-2009)
- Economic crisis an opportunity to be greener (3-1-2009)
- Vegas, Midwest seek the $8 billion for fast trains (2-23-2009)
- Calif. bond would launch bullet train project (9-26-2008)
Sun coverage
Beyond the Sun
Washington — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s decision to support construction of a conventional high-speed rail link to California is just a “bump in the road,” promoters of the rival maglev rail line said Tuesday. They vowed to push ahead on a proposal that has existed for years on, if anything, optimism.
Reid’s office disclosed Tuesday that he had thrown his support to the DesertXpress high-speed rail link between Las Vegas and Victorville, Calif. For years, Reid had been a major supporter of a competing proposal to build a magnetic levitation train between Las Vegas and Anaheim.
The privately backed DesertXpress is just months away from seeking financing from Wall Street, its backers say. Reid’s support will help in that effort, and with attempts to gain federal funding and low-interest government loans to aid in construction.
According to DesertXpress estimates, the cost of linking Las Vegas to Victorville would be $4 billion, or one-third the cost of building a maglev line from Las Vegas to Anaheim.
The Obama administration has committed to invest an unprecedented $8 billion in high-speed rail nationwide as part of a federal economic recovery package. The guidelines for applying for money will be released next week.
Organizers of the maglev project are requesting $1.8 billion to build the first leg, a 40-mile path from Las Vegas to the state line at Primm, and to plan the rest of the route.
Bruce Aguilera, a casino executive of the Bellagio and chairman of the California-Nevada Super Speed Train Commission, told the Las Vegas Sun editorial board Tuesday that the maglev group will press forward, seeking support from allies in the White House.
“We’re moving ahead,” agreed Neil Cummings, president of the American Magline Group, the consortium that would build the line. He said backers would complete a required environmental review of the proposed link “and get it built.”
Cummings thinks the two projects can coexist. He said existing rights of way along the I-15 corridor to Southern California provide enough room for tracks for both trains.
The maglev train had been seen as such a front-runner that when Reid shepherded the recovery package through Congress this year, critics denounced the increased rail funds as pork for Nevada. They derisively called the maglev train Sin City Express.
But the DesertXpress project had been quietly gaining traction as a privately funded, lower-cost alternative. DesertXpress is backed by political mogul Sig Rogich, among the Republicans in Nevada who have announced their support for Reid’s reelection.
Aguilera said of Rogich, “He’s got clout. He’s got the ear of a lot of people. He’s been helpful for the DesertXpress, no doubt about it.
Aguilera said he understood Reid has been frustrated with the pace of progress on maglev, noting the senator is up for reelection next year. “He wants to get something done for Nevada and the voters.”
Neither project is ideal.
For all the allure of 300 mph maglev trains, the technology remains controversial among rail enthusiasts and is untried in this country.
Likewise, the main criticism of DesertXpress is its map: The train would run only as far as Victorville, a high-desert outpost more than an hour’s drive north of the Southern California basin.
Last year, Reid sought an independent assessment from the Government Accountability Office that compares systems the world over. A Reid spokesman said Tuesday that after “weighing the two, this is where he landed.”
The senator thinks DesertXpress is much closer to reality and he became less interested in the maglev project because of its heavy reliance on public funding, spokesman Jon Summers said.
DesertXpress has “made more progress in the last couple of years than maglev has made in the past 30,” Summers said. “He wants to see something done.”
Reid’s position was a shift from just last year, when he helped secure $45 million in federal funding for planning the maglev route — money that remains largely untouched because the maglev group has only recently secured necessary matching funds.
At that time, Reid scoffed at a private train whose route to Las Vegas would begin 85 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles. Reid questioned whether visitors would drive through L.A. traffic to take a train the last 200 miles to Vegas.
“If it’s going to be really done in a big way, a Las Vegas way, the magnetic levitation would be the way to do it,” Reid said at the time. “If we can get this done, it will be the showboat of the world.”
More recently, Reid had been agnostic on the technology, saying he supports whatever line can be completed first.
Tom Stone, an executive with DesertXpress, saw immediate value in the senator’s position.
“We’re pleased the project has gained momentum, no question,” Stone said.
Since the president signed the recovery bill into law in February, Reid has been in contact multiple times with President Barack Obama and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood about the importance of establishing a high-speed route between Las Vegas and Southern California.
Already, 10 high-speed rail corridors established during the Clinton administration are eligible for a portion of recovery money. These corridors connect major cities across the United States.
Reid has talked to both Obama and LaHood about establishing a Las Vegas-Southern California route as a corridor. The Transportation secretary has the authority under existing law to designate an 11th corridor.
Maglev supporters, who met recently with LaHood, have sought a corridor designation specifically for the Vegas-to-Anaheim route.
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A deal cut in the back room. Reid tries to save his seat and makes a deal with a Republican to line his pockets. Business as usual with the residents fleeced in the process.
The government is going to pick winners and losers as long as this crowd is in power and politics will be the only factor in deciding who wins and who loses. The taxpayer doesn't pay cash in the back room, so the taxpayer loses to Reid again.
Neiman1, get over it - one will be built and one won't - or if it were up to the conspiracy challenged probably nothing will get done because it isn't pure enough for them
neiman-
Again, gimme a break. And as a "free marketeer", you should be happy that Desert Xpress will be done with mostly private funds. But hey, maybe you're coming around to my side now. We do get what we pay for, after all.
And honestly, I do agree with you that the Desert Xpress is a raw deal. It only goes as far as Victorville, and there's no plan for connecting everyone who needs to get to Orange County or LA. At least the maglev line to Anaheim would connect to Amtrak & Metrolink, which would let people go to LA or San Diego. Perhaps if we can do a "hybrid" of the two lines with a more conventional train going from Vegas all the way to Anaheim, then maybe I'll reconsider.
This is a great project and one that needs to happen quickly...
The DesertXpress is not privately funded if they are going after federal stimulus money. Remember the governments money is taxpayer money. So if they get a billion or so dollars of ARRA funding then this is a public/private venture. Also means the Obama executive pay Czar will be dictating their executive salaries.
They will need to blast a big tunnel thru Clark Mountain and the train will run completely through the proposed Ivanpah Solar Geneating station. The cost will go way past 4 billion! It will be amusing to watch the war between Bright Source, the solar developer, and the train developers. Reid wants both this train and the solar plant not to mention regain his seat in the Senate. We can have our cake and eat it can't we, Harry? LOL!
THE MAGLEV RAIL LINE WOULD BE A MUCH BETTER CHOICE!
Usually it is said that you either do something right and all the way or you don't do it at all. The Maglev magnetic levitation train proposal between Las Vegas and Anaheim is far superior to the DesertXpress high-speed rail link between Las Vegas and Victorville. Although the Maglev project costs a lot more, the future of technology must be considered, and also the full line from Anaheim to Las Vegas with the Maglev project. What purpose does it have to have a conventional high-speed rail link between Victorville and Las Vegas? Does anyone really think that Californians will somehow get to Victorville to board the conventional high-speed rail to LV? Seriously not, these logistics won't work.
So, the only smart solution is the Maglev magnetic levitation train proposal and it's also safer, especially for that kind of terrain.
$500 BILLION NEEDED FOR PROPER HIGH-SPEED RAIL/TRAIN SYSTEM IN THE U.S.!
BTW, if the Obama regime wants high-speed rails/trains throughout the country, then $8 billion is a mere drop in the bucket and absolutely inadequate. For a real contemporary high-speed rail/train system in the U.S. that will last over decades, the Obama regime will need to budget at least $500 billion for such. And no question it will be great once these trains and the network is completed, ... it will be amazing. But if it's not done right and with old technology, then it won't work and it will never even pay for itself, just like virtually all rail systems in Europe are subsidized by their governments as these lose money hand over fist. But, hey, it's an environmentally sound undertaking and it helps to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. I'm all for it, but lets start with the Maglev magnetic levitation train project, because it's the only right thing to do.
The "Train to Nowhere" that's being rushed by the LVCVA is far inferior to the maglev originally proposed in 1990. I was privileged to ride on the German prototype, and there's no similarity between safely traveling at 300 MPH from LV to Anaheim on an elevated guidway compared to the LVCVA's proposed 150 MPH steel wheel behemoth rolling down conventional ground level tracks to the middle of nowhere. The current rush job is a ploy to help re-elect Harry Reid who will take full credit. This is another LV Monorail in the making.
Both the MagLev and DesertXpress are a load of crap. Neither one is even remotely cost-effective as opposed to driving, especially for a couple or a family.
It really isn't that much better on time, either. I travel to Pasadena on a regular basis, sometimes driving, other times flying. The deciding factor for me is whether or not I'll be spending the night.
The door-to-door travel time for driving is just under 4hrs (if I don't stop at Peggy Sue's Diner, which is worth the drive all by itself). The door-to-door time for flying is 3hrs (30 min to airport, 1hr wait time at airport in cluding security, 1hr flight time, 30min from airport to final destination). The cost to drive is under $100 round trip, flying is about $300 unless I book 3 weeks in advance, and even then is about $140. Neither train proposal comes close to the cost of drving, and can't even offer the time savings of flying.
Taking a train to Victorville and then a rental car to Pasadena is a non-starter, same for Anaheim.
Anyone who puts money into this, be advised you will lose all of your investment.
Steelwheels to Victorville? Aw, c'mon! (Anybody want to invest in my buggywhip business?)
A Maglev to So. CA would actually have customers going both ways. Good for both states!
trust me i come from san diego if i drive to victor ville im not gettin on train for the rest of the trip. magna train faster from the OC i would take often... easy fast no one will ride that other stupid idea....
Reid should be supporting the MagLev train.
I do believe his support of the slow train is due to his upcoming race next year. Just wait until the finance reports come out.
And why would we want to build trains based on 19th century technology when we could begin to build a whole new system of rail based on 21st century technology?
MagLev is the best way to go.
Euro rail trains and Japanese trains run daily with ease and safety. The LV to Cali route needs to incorporate that Euro-Japan type of 21st century technology.
boftx: "The cost to drive is under $100 round trip"
And if that were a business trip the IRS would let you deduct about $271 for that trip.
It's funny how people lowball the true cost of driving, as if gas is the only expense. $271 to drive to and from Vegas from Pasadena including everything. Even then government incentives that entice people to drive keep that lower than it should be.
It's politics as usual...when do we start showing the world that we deserve respect as world leaders for something other that military force. That respect is dubious at best and has it's very ugly side. Germany to China to Japan...the technology is undeniably a realty, the cost is dropping rapidly (not going up like heavy rail), safety is superior and it's green! It's a shame our congress can't stay clear of special interest groups and do what's best for the majority and the future. We know the infrastructure and maintenance cost for high speed rail are exponentially higher than Maglev but we don't talk about that in the cost analysis. Please let's get real and do what's right...cost is not the issue here!!!
I agree that we need to try to catch up with Europe and Japan. The ICE and Bullet trains are high-tech modes of transportation far ahead of what we have here in the U.S. We finally get close to actually constructing a modern rail system and Harry Reid pulls his usual flip flop. Its so frustrating to watch again and again as one man's vie for power and personal gain trumps doing what would be best for the people of Nevada (and California). I wrote about it on another blog (http://www.beatreid.com/2009/06/reid-rog...).
I realize that the technology is expensive, but you have to take a leap of faith at some point. Otherwise we'd all still be riding around on horseback.
Kathy Flynn
Sig delivers financial funding to Harry's slow moving election and then Harry delivers taxpayer funding to Sig's slow moving train.
Transportation has nothing to do with this. The taxpayers are damned.