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Sunday, Dec. 11, 2011 | 2 a.m.
I support Harry Reid in most things, so I was upset with his determination to push the DesertXpress concept. Why would anyone in Las Vegas, seeking to go to Southern California, take a train to Victorville and then rent a car to complete the journey?
Sounds foolish, right?
Then I turned it around. He is not pushing this for us to visit Southern California! It is for the Californians to travel to Victorville, park the cars in a secure place, and then take the train into Las Vegas.
Not only would this be faster, eliminating the I-15 hassle, but also reduce the vehicular traffic in the resort corridor. When here, most would hire taxis rather than rent a car, another boost to the working person.
My faith in Harry Reid has been restored.
In order for the DesertXpress to escape the fate of the Las Vegas Monorail, it must terminate in L.A., and perhaps even run service to San Diego. If it never extends any further southwest than Victorville, it will fail.
Is DesertXpress a backdoor Freight Rail Transport System if and when projected ridership fails to materialize?
The only way ridership would be guaranteed is if fuel prices increased dramatically or internal combustion engines were outlawed by treaty, executive order or. . .
Taxpayer money is again being used to fund a project that is ill conceived.
The technology used in DesertXpress is outdated and slow. It is going to terminate in Victorville instead of LA.
The government has to build it because it is ill conceived so the private economy won't risk the investment.
All the above facts are true yet Harry Reid supports it. That 'should' be one more reason among many that Nevadan's should be very unhappy having Harry Reid as our Senator.
Michael
Considering the short distance, the train doesn't make sense. The distance from Victorville to Las Vegas is only 188 miles, about a 150 minute drive. To park and wait for a scheduled train ride would be approximately 60 to 90 minutes. I prefer driving so I would have the flexibility of leaving on my schedule. Not quite sure what the big advantage would be.
A car that gets 40 mpg would use less than 5 gallons at a cost of less than $20. How much would a ticket be? If the ticket was around $5 then maybe it would work.
Really?
.
Seriously?
.
Anybody jumping in their car in LA, heading to Vegas, is not going to stop in Victorville. They are going to continue in the car. This joke of an idea is only equalled by a monorail that doesn't go to the airport.
.
Do we really have to give more ammo suggesting we truly are the stupidest city in america?
.
Train to Anaheim, potentially a good idea. Train to Victorville, beyond stupid.
Victorville! LOL! Truly a train to...and from nowhere!
Harry Reid is such an idiot!! Doesnt he know that I would rather have a warmer climate? Or that I want more roads and airports? Doesnt he know I want to be packed into a plane like sardines or risk my life on the incredibly dangerous Interstate 15? What a moron! Seriously. We need to stop this. If we build this we'll just hurt the Middle Easts economy by lessening our dependence on them. Harry stop. This is liberal mumbo jumbo and a waste of money. I love paying hundreds or thousands in gas every year and love my auto dependent community even more. This is the 21st century. Stop trying to make progress!
The only reason Harry Reid thinks the silly train idea is a good thing is because he owns several miles of right of way that he can sell to the builders.
In the end of the day He will be saying "oops I read the map incorrectly and chose the wrong city"
One mishap not leading right direction. Few dollars wise twice.
The drive from Victorville to Las Vegas is insane. I was doing 75 mph in the slow lane and a squat sports car passed me on the shoulder doing about 30 mph faster, hot to get to Las Vegas.
Not one car was observed being pulled over by the CHP or NHP for a violation, it's too dangerous. Not one CHP or NHP patrol car was spotted, PERIOD. They seem to stay away like the plague was present. The road shoulders are killing fields for broken down cars.
The highway at night is a river of two colors, red and white, almost solid at times. It speeds up to 70mph+, then slows down to 25 and creeps along for no accidents, no visible reason. The average speed made was less than 45 mph.
Once a train route gets to Victorville, other rail routes will be built immediately. It's just the beginning.
Never again will I drive that route, except in an emergency.
Earle.......
YES Earle, Harry Reid is right, again.
A train route from California to Nevada should
have been built YEARS AGO.
New jobs and more visitors for Vegas.
GREAT IDEA!
LET'S BUILD IT!
Harry Reid's support for DessertXpress is nothing more than a political payoff in exchange for Sig's endorsement of him in the 2010 election.
SunJon,
Take time to stop at Peggy Sue's Diner just north of Barstow. You will always want to drive to L.A. after that. I would go so far as to say that going to Peggy Sue's is worth the drive all by itself.
And while we're at it, let's add a line from the
Burbank-SanFernando Valley area to merge
somewhere before Barstow.
That way, both ends of Southern California will
have train access to Las Vegas.
A WIN-WIN SITUTATION FOR ALL!!!
The two biggest threats for Las Vegas to fully recover are gas prices and air line ticket prices. Nevada does not control either so the next best thing is to offer cheap transportation from the largest market near by. That is LA. When Atlantic city was at it's peak level it was because cheap bus fare from NYC was offered. A bus full of gamblers left NYC every hour 24/7. Their largest gambling market. These people would never pay the money to drive there or fly. So Harry is sly like a fox and knows that transportation to Las Vegas is the key to success. You have a 10 million person market of people to draw from do the math if only 10% go to Las Vegas per year and drop just $100.00 there. Now is the time to invest in the future way of doing business it is called being pro active.