Maglev is the right choice for rail line

Leonard Diyco, Henderson

Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009 | 2 a.m.

I have been reading about a fast-rail system from Anaheim, Calif., to Las Vegas for several decades, and I am convinced that this will not come about in my lifetime.

It would be Third World mentality for the most technologically advanced country in the world to use 1960s bullet-train technology, as would be the case with the

DesertXpress. And anyone who states that maglev is untried in this country without explaining why it works in another country (China) sounds uninformed.

Twenty million miles logged by the Shanghai maglev seem like a good testament to the maglev system’s feasibility.

As one of many who have moved to Southern Nevada from Southern California, I would find it expensive and impractical to pay for a DesertXpress ride to Victorville, Calif., and then rent a car to travel the rest of the way — what would be the worst part of the journey.

I concede that a Southern Californian could consider it convenient to drive (his own car) to Victorville, park and enjoy a train ride to Las Vegas and return at his own leisure.

Has anybody conferred with various engineers at California Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Bechtel Corp. to fully understand where we are in maglev technology?

I repeat, why Shanghai and not here?