Las Vegas Sun

30% of all flights into McCurran are from California cities that will be served by European or Japanese high speed trains featuring steel wheels. Therefore:

Cancel Maglev
Cancel DesertXPress
Cancel Ivanpah Valley Airport

Instead, IFF California voters approve their state bond measure in November, push for a spur from Mojave to Las Vegas, bypassing Barstow to the north. Much of the EIR/EIS work has already been done for DesertXPress. No additional expensive mountain crossing into the LA Basin would be required.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&a...

There would be no stops between Bakersfield or Palmdale Airport and Las Vegas. Trains could traverse the 200 mile spur in as little as an hour. The trains could run on solar thermal and/or hydro power generated in Nevada, completely eliminating dependence on oil as well as CO2 emissions.

Trains could run to Anaheim plus San Diego, San Francisco and Sacramento. That additional connectivity is worth far more than the relatively minor technical advantages offered by maglev, which remains untested in commercial operation except for a single, short, money-losing stretch serving Shanghai Airport.

No on-board gambling would be allowed while trains are on California soil. However, broadband internet access, personal video-on-demand, live entertainment and top-notch meals would be available in a "High Roller Class".

To alleviate congestion at McCurran beyond the reduction in flights to and from California, long-distance travelers could book flights into and out of Palmdale Airport with a connecting train to Las Vegas. This would be analogous to United Airlines' GroundLink in France.

http://www.united.com/page/article/0,672...

Note that the state of California will not spend a penny on a spur to Las Vegas, though there would be opportunities to pool purchasing power. Funding would have to come from the city of Las Vegas, Clark county, the state of Nevada, the federal government and/or private investors.

Here's a Google map of the spur I have in mind.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&a...

Btw, I forgot to mention this: the spur off the California HSR system to Las Vegas I have in mind would branch off near Mojave and follow highways 58 and the I-15 median, bypassing Edwards AFB Barstow to the north. It would only serve passengers and not be used for freight.

In Las Vegas station should be west of I-15, between W. Hacienda, Polaris, W. Russell and Dean Martin, possibly underground. Ideally, the monorail would be spruced up and extended to provide connecting service.

@ Steve_R -

I completely agree with you on the eminent usefulness of high speed rail. This November, California voters will be asked to approve a $9.95 billion bond for their own. For details, see

http://www.cahighspeedrail.ca.gov/

Nevada voters should consider nixing both the Desert XPress and the maglev to Anaheim project championed by Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev).

http://www.desertxpress.com/
http://www.scag.ca.gov/Maglev/

Instead, they should urge the promoters of these competing projects to join forces and pursue a spur off the California system, which relies on steel wheels technology that has been in operation in Europe and Japan for decades.

The money for this extension would have to come from the state of Nevada, the feds and/or private investors - roughly analogous to the funding model for the California system. Constructing a spur would avoid having to construct an expensive mountain crossing into the LA basin. Without any intermediate stops, trains could easily average 200mph - propelled entirely by renewable electricity from solar thermal and hydroelectric power plants in Nevada.

Significant economies of scale would result from pooling purchasing power, engineering resources, maintenance yards etc. Nevada could also avoid the construction of a new airport and spend the money on excellent local transit instead. After all, you want visitors to spend their money on having fun, not on filling up. Here are some estimated travel times:

01:20 Las Vegas - Palmdale Airport
01:45 Las Vegas - Burbank
02:00 Las Vegas - Los Angeles
02:20 Las Vegas - Anaheim
03:15 Las Vegas - San Diego
01:40 Las Vegas - Bakersfield
02:10 Las Vegas - Fresno
03:00 Las Vegas - San Jose
03:20 Las Vegas - San Francisco
03:00 Las Vegas - Sacramento

A 300mph maglev from Anaheim would be faster but consume more electricity and serve only Orange County. Also, the technology risk of steel wheels is lower.

Passengers could ease into and out of their Las Vegas experience in a "High Roller" class featuring individual video-on-demand screens and/or live entertainment plus first-rate food service. Actual gambling would probably not be allowed within California, but CHSRA has stated the operations of the system will be open to public tender.

Latching onto the California system would help get the bond measure there passed and make it easier to secure matching funds for both states from Congress. But hurry, November is approaching fast.