Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Tourism column:

Nevada jumps through more federal hoops for rail plan

The well-meaning Nevada Transportation Department kicked off efforts to develop a state rail plan last week.

But administrators ended up raising the level of frustration among a few people who cared enough about train service to track down the location of the elementary school the department decided to stage its three-hour open-house meeting.

The number of Transportation Department workers and consultants at the meeting may have outnumbered the interested. As it turned out, those who had better things to do that night might have been the winners because those who showed up with questions were told, “Hey, we’re not far enough along on what we’re doing to take those kinds of comments.”

For years, people who recognize the necessity of a functional rail system for the state’s tourism economy have been aggravated over how rail service has gone downhill.

A big blow to Las Vegas occurred in 1997 when Amtrak’s Desert Wind passenger train service was discontinued for lack of ridership.

For those new to Southern Nevada over the past decade, Amtrak used to cruise through Las Vegas between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City. There was a train station at the Plaza hotel in downtown Las Vegas.

A train trip to L.A. wasn’t the swiftest way to go because the track that winds through the Mojave National Preserve is owned and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad, a freight-hauler that allowed Amtrak to use the track for passenger service. Because in many parts of the route there was only a single track instead of parallel lines, freight traffic had the priority and it would take as long as eight hours to travel between L.A. and Las Vegas. That’s why it failed.

Amtrak ended Desert Wind just as Southwest Airlines was becoming the busiest air carrier at McCarran International Airport. Flights were cheap and in the pre-9/11 era, air travel was relatively hassle-free. No one really cared that Amtrak was gone because Southwest and its competitors had dozens of flights to Los Angeles International and five other Southern California airports. Besides, new lanes were being built on Interstate 15 and driving that distance wasn’t too bad, except on holiday weekends.

It’s another era today.

The cost of gasoline surged in the past decade and is climbing even higher today. Rising jet fuel prices have made short hops between Las Vegas and L.A. an expensive proposition — and the hassle of airport security minimizes any time savings.

Meanwhile, the public has watched as the technological gap between European and Asian train systems and American systems has gone from huge to oceanic.

Although the U.S. has been lapped in rail technology, Americans are just beginning to discover what an environmental triumph high-speed ground transportation could be — and how important it would be for the Southern California tourism market.

When a dozen or so citizens showed up at the Feb. 28 meeting, they were shown passenger rail and freight rail vision statements developed by the Transportation Department.

“The vision for passenger rail transportation in Nevada is to develop a ... system that provides the traveling public with an attractive, energy-efficient, cost-effective and reliable alternative choice to auto, bus and air transportation, with intermodal connectivity that enhances economic and environmentally sustainable travel within, to and through the state,” the passenger vision statement says.

Really?

Participants also were asked to print on a comment form about the vision statements, provide remarks on goals and objectives, identify rail issues or opportunities and choose what destinations they would travel from Nevada cities.

With all due respect to the Transportation experts, where have they been for the past two decades?

In fairness to the department, the government requires public comments and meetings as part of the process of getting federal grant money for rail projects in Nevada. It’s one of those hoops the state is required to jump through to get back a piece of the money taxpayers have paid into the system.

After the public meeting in Las Vegas, the Transportation Department had similar sessions in Reno and Elko, where the rail needs are much different.

Amtrak’s California Zephyr runs between San Francisco and Salt Lake City en route to Chicago. It not only stops in Reno and Elko, but Winnemucca, too. But I’m sure Northern Nevada and Eastern Nevada found some other rail needs to include in the plan.

Residents have until March 18 to e-mail comments to Matthew Furedy, Nevada Transportation Department rail project manager. You can send your comments online by accessing a form at nevadarailplan.com.

In case you don’t have time for that, here’s what I perceive Southern Nevadans want:

• High-speed transportation to Los Angeles. There are people who don’t want to fly or drive who would take a train to L.A. if it only took a couple of hours. Likewise, a well-marketed high-speed line would take thousands of cars off crowded highways and introduce new competition to airlines. Whether a nationwide high-speed network is warranted is another issue, but for this particular market — L.A. to Las Vegas — it works.

• Other destinations. Credit the Western High Speed Rail Alliance for having the vision to propose connecting major Western cities by train. The organization suggests Phoenix, Salt Lake City and Reno as the best candidates for connectivity from Las Vegas (in addition to L.A.). Would there be a market to run a train from Las Vegas to Carson City? As jet fuel costs rise and the fare to fly from passes $200 round trip (not including the expense of renting a car in Reno to drive 30 miles to Carson City), there seems to be potential, especially if there’s something that would connect Reno with Carson City.

• Innovation. That comes in many forms. Representatives of the California-Nevada Superspeed Train Commission have backed magnetic levitation technology for years and are on the verge of developing the first portion of a proposed maglev line from Las Vegas to L.A. All that’s needed is a record of decision from the Federal Railroad Administration to release $45 million approved in legislation that was passed and signed into law years ago that would pay for the environmental assessments necessary on the link from Las Vegas to Primm — a route that would be useful when a new airport is developed in Ivanpah Valley years from now. The Railroad Administration has dawdled on the request for months. Another innovative idea came from a citizen attending the meeting. He suggested high-speed transportation train cars that could accommodate vehicles. Drive up on the train, lash the car down and sit in a separate train car for the trip. That way, tourists going to L.A. from Southern Nevada or from California to Las Vegas wouldn’t have to abandon their vehicles in a parking garage and rent when they reach their destination.

• High-speed leadership. President Barack Obama established a vision for high-speed rail, but there are too many chiefs trying to drive the train. We have the Railroad Administration on the federal level, Nevada Transportation Department and CalTrans in Nevada and California, the Regional Transportation Commission locally and, recently, the Western High Speed Rail Alliance, a regional group of transportation authorities dedicated to some form of connected high-speed transportation. If the Railroad Administration is the ultimate authority, it needs some new blood — people who understand new transportation technologies and don’t think high-speed rail means traveling 150 mph.

• Help from our congressional delegation. How the Railroad Administration could lock up promised funding for maglev is incomprehensible. A number of states plan to turn back their high-speed rail funds because they don’t want to deal with the ongoing maintenance issues. Some transportation experts I’ve talked with say the Railroad Administration is overburdened because so many states have entered the high-speed funding sweepstakes. It’s pointless to seek help from Sen. Harry Reid, who threw maglev under the bus in favor of rival DesertXpress Enterprises. But how about Rep. Shelley Berkley? She has a track record of support for all things tourism-oriented. She gets the importance of transportation to the destination.

• After listing what most Southern Nevadans want, how about a few things they don’t want? It’s clear from comments made far and wide that they don’t want a train to Victorville, Calif., even if someday it links to that state’s high-speed rail line. It’s understandable that the DesertXpress concept has won some kudos for being privately funded. But some of the shine was removed when the company announced it is seeking a $4.9 billion federal loan. Like the maglev plan, DesertXpress is playing a waiting game with the Railroad Administration, awaiting environmental clearances to begin engineering its route. The expected due date for that was the end of December. And now it must wait for an answer on its loan — which many observers are skeptical would be approved based on predicted ridership numbers. I’d love to see its ridership survey. Maybe I’d change my opinion of its chances of success if I thought people really would drive from L.A. to Victorville, leave their cars in a garage, take a 90-minute train ride to Las Vegas and rent a car.

Las Vegans also aren’t particularly interested in the excursion train proposals, including the X Train plan, which would use those Union Pacific tracks on trips between L.A. and Las Vegas.

Those trains aren’t going to be any faster now than Amtrak was when the Desert Wind made its last trip.

Show rescheduled

Las Vegas the Market, a formal wear trade show that had been scheduled at the Rio this month, has been canceled, but it has been reworked as a bigger event later this year.

Organizers said exhibitors and formal wear retailers experienced weak sales at the end of 2010 and encouraged them to focus on a fall show to take advantage of what is expected to a strong year. Industry leaders also said the March show dates would have interfered with the spring prom season.

The North American Bridal Association, one of the key backers of the show, then collaborated with the International Formalwear Association to present one event, which will be Sept. 11-13 at the Rio.

Merger on track

The Federal Aviation Administration has accepted Southwest Airlines’ plan to combine operations with AirTran Airways.

Southwest, the busiest air carrier at McCarran International Airport, announced in September that it is acquiring Orlando, Fla.-based AirTran for $1.4 billion.

Southwest expects the deal to close in the second quarter, and the companies currently have separate operating certificates.

The deal awaits approval from AirTran shareholders and some regulatory clearances, but the issuance of a single certificate is a significant step. The deal will open the door to some big changes at Southwest, with the integration of new destinations served by AirTran and a new aircraft type, the Boeing 717, on deck.

Rodeo airline

Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air has struck a deal with the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association that will make it “the official airline of the PRCA and Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.”

Terms weren’t announced, but the deal gives the airline access to market and give away trips at PRCA-sanctioned rodeos.

It’s a great opportunity for Allegiant, which flies nonstop to Las Vegas from several cities that have PRCA rodeos.

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