Letter to the editor:

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?

Discussion: 8 comments so far…

By Surmoka

9/30/09 at 4:50 a.m.

Suggest removal

For those not familiar with what this Maglev exactly is, take a look at these videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8nazrmtu... (part 1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJvq-DMez... (part 2)
By jlb101

9/30/09 at 2:05 p.m.

Suggest removal

The government is broke. Where is the fourteen billion, actually knowing the government it will be forty-five billion, going to come from to build this tax sucking rathole? Assuming it gets built, how much in subsidies is the fool taxpayers going to have to pay to keep the damned thing running.

If a person wants to get from Anaheim to Las Vegas they should either drive or take Greyhound and leave the taxpayers alone.
By larry5

9/30/09 at 11:46 p.m.

Suggest removal

Who has determined that Mickey Mouse fans want to come to Vegas for the gambling and nudity?

Who has determined that Las Vegas residents want to visit the Enchanted Kingdom in droves?
By Surmoka

10/1/09 at 3:21 a.m.

Suggest removal

@jlb101: if people in charge were thinking like you, there'd be no transportation systems on Earth. No trains, no airplanes, no nothing.
By rafael

10/1/09 at 6:55 a.m.

Suggest removal

The maglev proposal assumes that the medians of I-10 and CA-57 will be available to get from Colton/Ontario to Anaheim.

Well, guess what? Precisely those medians are now being considered for the LA-Ontario-San Diego leg of California's own steel wheels HSR system because Union Pacific isn't prepared to sell any of its right of way. It's now very likely indeed that the alternate route via the freeways will be chosen in the next few months, which means there would be no place to construct the incompatible maglev tracks. Not that California would spend any of its own money or agree to federal funding for a second HSR service through the San Gabriel Valley.

Conclusion: maglev isn't ever going to reach LA or Anaheim.

If you want to keep bickering about the relative merits of the technology, that's your prerogative. Just be aware that maglev would probably never make it across the border, so Nevada would be cutting off its nose to spite its face. California made its decision in favor of steel wheels last November. Nevada had 30 years to make maglev to Anaheim happen, it didn't, now it's too late.

The best option for everyone would be a straight-up steel wheels spur off the California system, e.g. from Mojave to Las Vegas via Barstow. The DesertXpress proposal could be modified/expanded to become just that, delivering DIRECT service to LA, Anaheim and SF, and to Sacramento and San Diego later on. That would eliminate any need for a multi-billion dollar relief airport in the Ivanpah Valley, the land could be used for a solar thermal power plant instead.

Btw, China just placed a $4 billion order for 80 Zefiro 380 (as in 380km/h = 236mph top speed) trains with Bombardier. Through 2020, that country will be spending $300 billion on 6000 miles of brand-new HSR tracks, virtually all of it steel wheels. The one and only new maglev project, from Shanghai to Hangzhou, has been an on-again off-again affair.
By uddeboda

10/1/09 at 8:46 a.m.

Suggest removal

jlb101,
It would appear that the USA have several tax sucking ratholes, Medicare, Medicaid, War in Iraq, Afghanistan, Military forces, need any more??
By Surmoka

10/1/09 at 2:12 p.m.

Suggest removal

Oh here is our rafael, spreading his wannabe-decisions as if they were unalterable circumstances out of human scope.
How low profile.
By rafael

10/2/09 at 9:16 a.m.

Suggest removal

@ Surmoka -

WEAK! I'm saying *Nevada* isn't going to change California's mind. There as a window of opportunity and for better or worse, Nevada simply missed it.