From Las Vegas Review-Journal: TOURISM: DesertXpress on right track?

Link:TOURISM: DesertXpress on right track? - Business - ReviewJournal.com

TOURISM: DesertXpress on right track?

Critics say terminus in Victorville, route through national park could stymie LV rail proposal

By BENJAMIN SPILLMAN
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

An artist's rendering shows the 125-mph DesertXpress, which would use electric-powered trains on dedicated tracks between Victorville, Calif., and one of four possible stations in Las Vegas.
Illustration courtesy of DesertXpress

The good news is frequent Las Vegas visitor Larry Carlson may finally get to ditch his car in favor of a high-speed train from Southern California to Nevada.

"I think a lot of people are waiting for it," said Carlson, 40, of Escondido. "I know I'm waiting for it."

The bad news for Carlson, and others like him, is he'd have to ditch his car in Victorville, at least under the leading proposal.

"I don't know how many people would actually want to go into Victorville," said Carlson of the San Bernardino County exurb, where backers of the proposed $4 billion DesertXpress plan to end their line from Las Vegas.

The terminus in Victorville is the first issue detractors claim will doom a train proposal that seeks to accommodate about 5.1 of the estimated 18.25 million annual round trips between Southern California and Las Vegas, with an average fare of $50 each way.

But a line that stops 80 miles short of downtown Los Angeles -- 2 hours and 30 minutes by car in heavy traffic -- is just one obstacle to making DesertXpress a reality.

One proposed track alignment cuts through a national park, a situation that park advocates say could set a dangerous precedent.

Also, the DesertXpress won't reach its full potential without another line between Victorville and Palmdale, a Los Angeles County exurb where California plans to create a major hub for its own high-speed rail system between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

The gap between Palmdale and Victorville is about 50 miles, and even rail supporters are skeptical that it would be built anytime soon.

"I don't think the Victorville connection is anybody's first priority for doing California's high-speed rail," said Richard Little, an infrastructure expert at the University of Southern California.

Despite the obstacles, DesertXpress backers say they have the business and political juice and ridership demand to start construction on the project in 18 months.

That's sooner than backers of a rival route from Las Vegas to Anaheim, Calif., via a magnetic levitation train, can get started on the first phase of their proposal, a short leg from Las Vegas to Primm.

DesertXpress partners include veteran Nevada political consultant Sig Rogich, resort builder Tony Marnell, longtime transportation expert Tom Stone and Gary Tharaldson, a self-made centimillionaire raised on a farm in North Dakota who made a fortune developing modest, midpriced hotels in rural communities. Tharaldson owns land near the Strip that's considered a possible site for the DesertXpress depot in Las Vegas.

The group also recently welcomed support from U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., who ended his long-standing support of the magnetic levitation, or maglev, proposal because, he said, backers had little to show after three decades of work on the project.

"We have a project that goes over 200 miles into Southern California at no cost to the taxpayers," Rogich said.

REASONS FOR CONFIDENCE

Rogich, Marnell and the others say they're confident they can deliver the DesertXpress for three simple reasons: The technology is proven, the demand is present and the funding doesn't require direct government contributions.

"Is it perfect? No. Does it seem like the rest of the world has been doing it for 20 years? Yeah," said Marnell, whose construction company built Bellagio, Treasure Island and The Mirage for developer Steve Wynn. "It is not a stroke of genius. It is a very viable alternative."

Marnell said his business career makes him a natural fit as a DesertXpress partner.

"My part of that has been building rooms," he said of the Las Vegas boom dating back to the 1990s that put so much stress on Interstate 15 in the first place. "But (also) understanding how critical it is to get the customers to Las Vegas so you can put them in the rooms."

The DesertXpress would use electric-powered trains on dedicated tracks between Victorville and one of four possible stations in Las Vegas.

Ridership studies, which were verified by the Federal Railroad Administration, state that by 2013, the projected first year of operation for DesertXpress, the train would haul as many as 2,100 passengers per hour at peak Friday and Sunday times, the equivalent of an entire lane of traffic on Interstate 15, the crowded, hilly, hot, dangerous highway that links Las Vegas to Southern California.

Las Vegas regular Mike Esfahani, 26, of Irvine, Calif., contrasted a potential train to flying from Southern California.

"If it was about half the price I would actually drive to Victorville and hop the train the rest of the way, if parking was ample and safe," said Esfahani, a freelance musician.

He added, "It would have to cost the same as gas, if not a little more."

DesertXpress partners boast of a one-way fare of $50. But a closer look at the project's environmental impact statement, or EIS, shows they intend to have tiered pricing, with costlier fares at peak travel times.

DesertXpress spokeswoman Lee Haney said the $50 figure represents an average fare and the company hasn't set prices for frequent riders, first class versus economy accommodations and peak-time fares.

Trains would depart every 20 minutes and make the trip to Las Vegas in 84 minutes, rolling along at a speed of about 130 miles per hour.

Unlike conventional passenger rail, DesertXpress wouldn't need to yield to freight trains. Its dedicated tracks for both eastbound and westbound trains would be independent of existing rail lines.

Passengers would essentially start their Las Vegas vacation in Victorville, where they would park their cars and have the option to check bags, reserve a hotel room and, presumably, receive cocktail service in the depot.

"The resort experience starts and you don't have anything to worry about," Stone said.

SIMPLE PLAN FOR FUNDING

If Stone and the other Desert Xpress partners are worried about anything, such as how to find $4 billion to invest in a train to one of the cities hurting most in the current recession, they aren't showing it.

Their funding plan is simple.

They plan to recruit $1.5 billion in private equity investment and borrow the rest through the Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing Program, which operates through the Federal Railroad Administration.

The program has the capacity to make loans and loan guarantees for up to $35 billion, according to the railroad administration's Web site.

So far it has only committed about $7 billion nationally, presumably leaving capacity to make another $28 billion in loans.

Rob Kulat, an administration spokesman, said the loans are made at the U.S. Treasury rate, which is now about 4.4 percent for 30-year notes.

That's much less than the backers could expect to find on the debt markets, where bonds for a new, unproven transportation project would likely get poor ratings and drive up the cost of financing.

Chad Lewis, an analyst for Fitch Ratings, said about the only transportation bonds with AA or better ratings are those for proven turnpike routes or projects that are backed by dedicated tax revenue, as opposed to fares from riders.

"It is just a pure pledge of tax receipts," said Lewis of some highly rated transportation- related bonds.

DesertXpress backers insist they won't seek help from taxpayers. The backers have already invested nearly $30 million of their own money, and say more is on the way.

"We've had significant interest from potential private equity investors," Haney said. "Once you are familiar with the corridor, most people understand the demand is absolutely there."

OBSTACLES TO SURMOUNT

But the corridor has its own obstacles.

It cuts through the Mojave National Preserve, a unit of the national park service. The 1.6 million-acre park is considered a zone of solitude for people and an oasis for wildlife wedged between the chaos and pollution of Southern California and Southern Nevada. It is also home to endangered species, primarily the desert tortoise.

"That is an area that is very dense with desert tortoise," said Lynn Davis, a Las Vegas-based representative of the National Parks Conservation Association, a private, nonprofit group that advocates on behalf of national parks. "Aside from that (the train) would mandate a new right-of-way."

Although the conservation association supports DesertXpress and the proposed maglev train in concept, Davis said it opposes allowing a new transportation right-of-way in a national park.

"We don't want to look like a spoiler in this," she said. "We just want to advocate for routes that skirt where the actual preserve is."

Stone acknowledged that the right-of-way issue could be problematic.

The DesertXpress backers say they want to work with park advocates, but they haven't committed to a route that would avoid the preserve.

"That does have to get resolved, and it will," Stone said.

Another unresolved issue is competition with the maglev proposal.

SUPPORT FOR MAGLEV

Although Reid withdrew his support for the maglev project in favor of DesertXpress, maglev backers continue to back their project.

They want to build a train that would use magnets to levitate the cars in an overhead track and propel them at speeds as high as 300 miles per hour.

Their proposed route is from Las Vegas to Anaheim, a much more central location than Victorville.

"You want to go all the way to the ocean? Or do you want a train that is going to stop halfway?" said Neil Cummings, president of American Magline Group, the private component of the public-private partnership behind the maglev.

But maglev has its own problems, beginning with a price of about $12 billion. It is also just beginning its environmental study process, which puts it behind DesertXpress' time line.

And the first phase, which would cost about $1.8 billion, would only go from Las Vegas to Primm, home to three casinos, a roller coaster, an outlet mall and little else.

The maglev group is also dependent on raising money in the debt markets, which have little appetite for unproven transportation proposals.

Still, the greatest obstacle for both proposals may be the one Don Duhamel, 67, of Rowland Heights, Calif., pointed out.

Duhamel, who visits Las Vegas as often as 12 times per year, said he's not yet ready to ditch his car and he doesn't think others are, either.

"I don't see an advantage in it myself. If the train doesn't stop right where you want to be you have to take a cab there," he said. "I don't think it will ever happen."

Contact reporter Benjamin Spillman at bspillman@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861

From the Las Vegas Sun: An editorial supporting a mag-lev train from CA to Vegas.

Link: Go maglev - Las Vegas Sun

Go maglev
High-speed train plan merits support

Fri, Jun 26, 2009 (3 a.m.)

If Las Vegas wishes to remain competitive with other U.S. cities in transporting people, it will have to do more than rely on cars, buses and airplanes. Our roads and skies already are clogged with traffic.

There is another form of public transportation that deserves the public’s support — high-speed rail.

Two proposals are on the table that would employ fast trains between Southern Nevada and Southern California. One proposal, the DesertXpress, would involve a steel-wheel train on steel tracks that would initially run from Las Vegas to Victorville, Calif.

But we think a competing plan that would use magnetic levitation technology is far superior. Its supporters say that maglev represents the technology of the future, with trains that float on air and with no moving parts or friction, thereby reducing maintenance costs. In contrast, those supporters argue convincingly that steel tracks represent technology of the 19th century.

The maglev train would run all the way to Anaheim, Calif. That’s where it would potentially link up with another proposed high-speed rail system that would carry people to Northern California, according to stories that ran June 16 in the Las Vegas Sun, a sister publication of In Business Las Vegas.

The maglev line, a nonprofit venture that would be overseen by the California-Nevada Super Speed Train Commission, also has the potential to be part of a futuristic high-speed rail network of trains moving at 300 mph that could connect major cities throughout the country.

Think of what that would mean in terms of increased commerce for Las Vegas.

DesertXpress proponents say they intend to build a spur to Palmdale, Calif., to connect with the north-south California line. But that proposal doesn’t have a timetable or financing plan.

By initially extending only to Victorville, which is nearly 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles, Southern Californians would still have to drive several hours in congested traffic just to reach the train. That would include a journey over the Cajon Pass on Interstate 15.

When it comes to selecting a proposal worthy of competing for federal economic stimulus money set aside for high-speed rail development, we are convinced that most commuters would choose the maglev plan.

From the Las Vegas Sun: An Argument in favor of using mag lev train instead of a bullet train

Link: Build rail for the future - Las Vegas Sun

Sun editorial:
Build rail for the future
Proposed maglev link from Las Vegas to Southern California a winning idea

Tue, Jun 16, 2009 (2:05 a.m.)

This nation must do a far better job of cleaning up the environment and reversing its dependency on fossil fuel consumption, which contributes to global warming.

One solution is to develop a nationwide network of high-speed rail lines that not only could rival the connectivity of the U.S. interstate highway system, but also could do a far better job of relieving traffic congestion while getting passengers to their destinations faster. Having cleaner air to breathe would be a bonus.

As reporters Lisa Mascaro and Richard Velotta reminded Las Vegas Sun readers Sunday, the city now has two competing high-speed-rail proposals that aim to connect Southern Nevada with Southern California. But only one of them, a magnetic levitation train that can travel up to 300 miles an hour, truly represents the future and can help advance this nation’s transportation system far beyond where it is today.

The downside of the other proposal, for the DesertXpress system, which would employ the antiquated technology of steel wheels on steel tracks, is that it would travel at only half the speed and go only as far as Victorville, Calif.

Proponents of the maglev line, a nonprofit venture that would be overseen by the California-Nevada Super Speed Train Commission, intend to run their line to Anaheim, Calif. This represents a significant advantage over DesertXpress for many reasons.

One is that Southern Californians traveling to Las Vegas aboard a maglev train would avoid the horrendous traffic that turns the route from the Interstate 10/Interstate 15 interchange to the Cajon Pass into a parking lot. Driving to Victorville, which is nearly 100 congested miles northeast of Los Angeles, would add hours to their commute, increase air pollution and leave motorists frustrated.

Another advantage of maglev is that there are plans to connect the Las Vegas line with a high-speed route running from San Diego to San Francisco and Sacramento. If you live in Las Vegas and want to visit California, you could take the train to those destinations rather than having to rent a car in Victorville to continue your journey.

Finally, the Las Vegas and California links could serve as vital building blocks in the quest for a national high-speed-rail network.

It is for these reasons that we strongly urge the Obama administration and Congress to include the proposed Las Vegas maglev train in the funding mix for the $8 billion in federal money set aside for high-speed-rail development.
Discussion: 3 comments so far…

1.

By Brian C. Brooks
6/16/09 at 6:51 a.m.
Suggest removal

My approval of the maglev proposal appeared in a comment related to the first article. I also described a lower cost alternative that was much better than steel wheels on steel rails. Monorail can be developed to operate quietly at 150 mph and can easily descend through the Cajon pass and connect with all parts of southern California and with the proposed high speed rail systems and allow much shorter routes for them. Is anyone interested in this elegant solution?
2.

By El Lobo
6/16/09 at 7:47 a.m.
Suggest removal

I agree....the magnetic levitation train model is the way to go. It truly represents "real progress." Dumping passenger off at Victorville is hardly the answer. Traveling at 300 miles an hour is far better than traveling at 150 miles an hour.

I also agree that it's time to "do a far better job of cleaning up the environment and reversing its (our) dependency on fossil fuel consumption...."

Those in the know tell us that the world's supply of oil is going to peak some time after 2010. In other words, there's going to be less and less oil world wide as countries such as China and India demand a larger share of the oil avialable...

It's time the United States starts acting like a world leader.....it's time we become the leader when it comes to energy. It's time to build a new energy mouse trap......

Let's start with the magnetic levitation train and go from there....
3.

By scherf.com
6/16/09 at 9:47 a.m.
Suggest removal

This is an excellent Editorial by the Sun!
The MAGLEV proposal is the only viable option for a high-speed train system and it has a shot a great success, ... I know I will most definitely ride/use it, ... and I know lots of people from LA and Las Vegas who would love the MAGLEV system and are even excited about it.

The old-tech DesertXpress is an absolut lost cause, because virtually nobody would use the DesertXpress, ... because who in the world would want to travel to or from Victorville and it would be a tremendous hassle to connect from/to Victorville and therefore the DesertXpress is a losing proposition, ... it's not even worth considering it. It would be a grand financial disaster in the billions of dollars and it would be a "ghost" line nobody uses.

Well, I'm glad the Sun wrote this Editorial which is accurate and encouraging in all its aspects as the MAGLEV magnetic levitation train system is the best in the world, even if it costs a lot more, but that's the future. It would be great to have this system all across the U.S. and with a little "luck" we could get it over the next couple decades. The MAGLEV is also a very safe form of transportation and it's convenient in every regard. And the MAGLEV is the evironmentally best solution anyone can come up with and regarding the "green" (environmental) aspect the MAGLEV is decades ahead of the DesertXpress proposal.

From the Las Vegas Sun: the pros and cons of Mag Lev technology and high-speed rail

Link: Trade-offs between technologies include speed, cost - Las Vegas Sun

TRANSPORTATION:
Trade-offs between technologies include speed, cost
Backers of each project find fault with the way the other one would work

By Richard N. Velotta (contact)

Sun, Jun 14, 2009 (2 a.m.)

It’s a tale of two trains.

One would be a conventional steel-wheels-on-rails model that would move faster than any train operating in the West, powered by electricity or a diesel-electric hybrid locomotive.

The other wouldn’t use rails — or wheels. Its cars would be propelled by magnetic levitation, or maglev, and would float on a cushion of air, propelled by magnetic fields generated by electricity. And it would be really fast.

These are the two technologies that have emerged as contenders to whisk thousands of gamblers from Southern California to Las Vegas on high-speed trains.

Proposals for high-speed trains were aired in the

late 1970s as traffic from the market that supplies one-third of the city’s visitors grew on Interstate 15. Today, about 80,000 vehicles a day use I-15 after traffic peaked at about 97,000 a day in July 2005.

As more people took to the highway, 10-hour drives between Los Angeles and Las Vegas instead of four became common on busy weekends.

A fast train, like Japan’s “bullet train” or Europe’s many high-speed options, seemed a workable solution to the problem.

Maglev technology dates to '60s

A maglev proposal developed by the California-Nevada Super Speed Train Commission in partnership with American Magline Group took the lead, using technology developed in Germany in the late 1960s.

Germany’s Transrapid’s evolving technology was used to build the world’s only commercial maglev line in operation, a 19-mile-long system linking Shanghai and Pudong International Airport.

That system, now in its ninth upgrade, is what American Magline wants to build between Anaheim and Las Vegas.

The maglev looks like a monorail, but the technology is much different.

In the Transrapid system, passengers sit inside a vehicle that is a part of an electric motor and is levitated over an I-shaped guideway. An onboard computer system controls levitation and adjusts magnetic force of a set of onboard electromagnets as they move along the guideway.

The propulsion concept is built on the basics of magnetism discovered by children: Magnets either attract or repel each other, depending on the alignment. In this case, the magnets are much larger and computers control the timing and power of the electromagnets so that regardless of load and speed, the vehicles maintain a 10-millimeter gap between the vehicle and the guideway.

Because there are no moving parts or friction, maintenance costs are greatly reduced. Most of the electronic parts are mounted in the vehicles or the guideways and can be changed out as easily as changing a car battery.

People who have ridden the Shanghai maglev say it is smooth, quiet and comfortable. Despite speeds of 300 mph, passengers don’t need seat belts and can walk up and down the aisle when the maglev train is in motion.

Because there is no contact between the vehicle and the guideway, it’s quiet along the track as well. When a maglev train passes by, people nearby will hear the whoosh of the vehicle displacing the air around it.

Maglev tracks between Anaheim and Las Vegas would be elevated to prevent grade-crossing mishaps.

American Magline officials say the surfaces of their low-maintenance track could house solar panels that could help power the system. Instead of a sprawling grid of photovoltaic panels, the maglev line could be one long electricity-producing panel. In addition, maglev proponents have said that if a network of

transportation lines could be developed nationwide like the interstate highway system, the guideways could house electric power conveyance as well — a nationwide power grid you could ride.

The fact that the American Magline’s maglev proposal has been on the drawing board for years and hasn’t gotten far is why some backers have switched allegiance to the conventional rail proposal developed by DesertXpress Enterprises.

Earlier proposals sputtered

The DesertXpress plan to build a high-speed line between Victorville, Calif., and Las Vegas has its roots in earlier rail proposals.

At the prodding of Sen. Harry Reid and with a ridership study commissioned by Rogich Communications in hand, an Amtrak subsidiary proposed a fast train to make the Los Angeles-Las Vegas run after Amtrak discontinued its Desert Wind train service in May 1997.

Amtrak West partnered with Talgo Inc., a Washington state-based subsidiary of Patentes Talgo SA of Madrid, Spain. Talgo and Amtrak West proposed a European-style train capable of going 80 mph to run on the existing Union Pacific track between Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

But that plan sputtered when lawmakers didn’t fund Amtrak’s request and a key piece of the plan — building a parallel track for the passenger train to pass slower freight trains within California’s Mojave National Preserve — wasn’t built.

But the advantages of conventional rail were affirmed and Rogich backed DesertXpress’ proposal to build a train capable of traveling 150 mph.

The plan is simple: Build an elevated guideway along the I-15 corridor with experienced rail contractors that have established records.

Environmental permitting is nearly complete. One decision that has yet to be made is whether the trains would be all electric or a diesel-electric hybrid. Both involve proven technologies in use nationwide.

An all-electric system would require miles of catenary, the electric cable that runs above the track, or a third-rail power source. A hybrid would use diesel fuel to power the locomotive pulling the train.

As in the maglev train, passengers would be able to roam the aisles despite the high speed. DesertXpress officials envision a party atmosphere on board and the
he potential of casino companies arranging to hand out room keys and take show and dinner reservations during the 84-minute trip across the desert.

Both projects draw criticism

The downside of each system is reflected in the criticisms American Magline and DesertXpress have for each other’s proposals.

The rail project is a throwback to the 19th century while maglev is 21st-century technology, the maglev project’s backers say. The maglev system is unproven in the United States, especially in a harsh desert environment with temperature extremes and wind, sand and dust, the rail backers counter.

Because the high-speed train can’t handle the steep grades of the Cajon Pass, the DesertXpress’ southern terminus would be the high desert town of Victorville. The maglev train, which could run up and down the Cajon Pass, would end at Anaheim, maglev backers say.

DesertXpress officials counters that it has a long-range plan to connect passenger traffic to the west through Palmdale, which would be on California’s high-speed train route between Los Angeles and Sacramento.

DesertXpress officials say the maglev is too expensive to build; American Magline counters that its lower maintenance costs would even things out.

Neither proposal has financing in place, but both have private partners lined up for all the components needed to build and operate.

But now, DesertXpress has a couple of key advantages — a head start in the permitting process and political backing that could funnel federal dollars to the project. American Magline can only hope that when President Obama said he wants to see the fastest train in the world built in the United States that he
meant it and can influence what gets built.

From the official website-Dessert Xpress: Desert Xpress set to debut 2014

Link: Desert Xpress set to debut 2014 | California Excursions

June 10th, 2009
Desert Xpress set to debut 2014

The DesertXpress is a unique project that is based on using proven, steel wheel on rail high speed train technology to connect Southern California and Las Vegas.



A new transportation alternative will alleviate the congestion on I-15 facilitating both Las Vegas-bound and Southern California-bound travelers. Las Vegas has consistently been the fastest-growing large city in the country over the past decade. This growth has only strengthened the demand for travel from Nevada to Southern California. And in the wake of the current economic downturn, hotel occupancy in Las Vegas has remained strong at nearly 90%; and, traffic counts on the I-15 freeway at the CA-NV State Border have shown increases in 2009.

The DesertXpress will travel 184 miles from Victorville, CA to Las Vegas, NV in 84 minutes.
The DesertXpress will travel 184 miles from Victorville to Las Vegas in 84 minutes.

The Route
Link: click here
From Victorville, a completely separate, dedicated two-track passenger railway would be constructed, largely following the north side or median of I-15, making maximum use of excess freeway right-of-way, and minimizing the impact upon the largely undeveloped land alongside the highway. There will be no grade crossings, thereby maximizing speed and safety.

Two passenger stations are proposed, one in Victorville located along the west side of I-15 between the North and South junctions with the Stoddard Wells Road interchanges on about 60 acres of land, plus parking, and the other station in Las Vegas at one of three possible locations designed to interface with proposed extensions of the Las Vegas Monorail™, with shuttles serving the resorts and the central business district.

In Las Vegas, the line will be conveniently located close to the airport, the Strip, and downtown Las Vegas. In addition, if desired by the resort owners at Primm, located adjacent to the state line, a station could be provided to accommodate separate excursion trains operating to and from Las Vegas.


Link: click here.
Why Victorville?

Of course it would be great if DesertXpress could be extended to downtown Los Angeles, Anaheim and Ontario, and someday it might. But for this initial project, it is critical for the station to serve the Southern California market and be financeable without public tax dollars.

Victorville makes a lot of sense because it is the first major population center northeast of the Cajon Pass through the San Bernardino mountain range separating the High Desert from the Los Angeles basin. Victorville is within only a 30- to 45-minute drive for roughly 5 million people who live in the Inland Empire, Antelope Valley, and the eastern portions of Los Angeles County, and only a one to two hour’s drive for most of the rest of the Southland’s 21 million residents—many of whom routinely drive at least an hour to and from work each weekday.
Fares & Schedules

The comprehensive ridership forecasting work that was independently vetted by the Federal Railroad Administration shows that at a $50 one-way fare, which is at the mid-point of the range of fares we have studied, the annual ridership in the first full year of operation is estimated to be over 10 million trips.

Trains would operate between 6 am to 10 pm (or later), daily, 365 days a year, at 20 to 30 minute intervals during peak periods and 1- to 2-hour intervals during non-peak periods.

DesertXpress will operate at a top speed of 150 mph, making the 180-mile trip in about 84 minutes, like clock work, no matter what time of day, every day of the year.
A Fully Expandable System

The DesertXpress line could be extended over approximately 50 miles to interface with the inter-modal facility planned in Palmdale on the voter-approved California High Speed Rail Project. And because the system will use non-proprietary, high quality, standard gauge steel rail technology, it does not tie the hands of the public sector. This ensures that the lowest possible cost can be realized for such expansions.

From the Las Vegas Sun: Sen. Harry Reid supports conventional high-speed train over maglev train for Anaheim/Victorville, CA to Vegas line.

Link: Maglev train to press on without Reid - Las Vegas Sun

Maglev train to press on without Reid
Planners ‘moving ahead’ despite senator’s defection to rival project
Image

Tiffany Brown

Organizers of a maglev train system linking Las Vegas and Southern California say they are undeterred by the loss of Sen. Harry Reid’s support. From left are Neil Cummings, American Magline Group president; transportation consultant Kevin Coates; and Bruce Aguilera, chairman of a maglev train commission.

By Lisa Mascaro (contact)

Wed, Jun 10, 2009 (2 a.m.)

Washington — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s decision to support construction of a conventional high-speed rail link to California is just a “bump in the road,” promoters of the rival maglev rail line said Tuesday. They vowed to push ahead on a proposal that has existed for years on, if anything, optimism.

Reid’s office disclosed Tuesday that he had thrown his support to the DesertXpress high-speed rail link between Las Vegas and Victorville, Calif. For years, Reid had been a major supporter of a competing proposal to build a magnetic levitation train between Las Vegas and Anaheim.

The privately backed DesertXpress is just months away from seeking financing from Wall Street, its backers say. Reid’s support will help in that effort, and with attempts to gain federal funding and low-interest government loans to aid in construction.

According to DesertXpress estimates, the cost of linking Las Vegas to Victorville would be $4 billion, or one-third the cost of building a maglev line from Las Vegas to Anaheim.

The Obama administration has committed to invest an unprecedented $8 billion in high-speed rail nationwide as part of a federal economic recovery package. The guidelines for applying for money will be released next week.

Organizers of the maglev project are requesting $1.8 billion to build the first leg, a 40-mile path from Las Vegas to the state line at Primm, and to plan the rest of the route.

Bruce Aguilera, a casino executive of the Bellagio and chairman of the California-Nevada Super Speed Train Commission, told the Las Vegas Sun editorial board Tuesday that the maglev group will press forward, seeking support from allies in the White House.

“We’re moving ahead,” agreed Neil Cummings, president of the American Magline Group, the consortium that would build the line. He said backers would complete a required environmental review of the proposed link “and get it built.”

Cummings thinks the two projects can coexist. He said existing rights of way along the I-15 corridor to Southern California provide enough room for tracks for both trains.

The maglev train had been seen as such a front-runner that when Reid shepherded the recovery package through Congress this year, critics denounced the increased rail funds as pork for Nevada. They derisively called the maglev train Sin City Express.

But the DesertXpress project had been quietly gaining traction as a privately funded, lower-cost alternative. DesertXpress is backed by political mogul Sig Rogich, among the Republicans in Nevada who have announced their support for Reid’s reelection.

Aguilera said of Rogich, “He’s got clout. He’s got the ear of a lot of people. He’s been helpful for the DesertXpress, no doubt about it.

Aguilera said he understood Reid has been frustrated with the pace of progress on maglev, noting the senator is up for reelection next year. “He wants to get something done for Nevada and the voters.”

Neither project is ideal.

For all the allure of 300 mph maglev trains, the technology remains controversial among rail enthusiasts and is untried in this country.

Likewise, the main criticism of DesertXpress is its map: The train would run only as far as Victorville, a high-desert outpost more than an hour’s drive north of the Southern California basin.

Last year, Reid sought an independent assessment from the Government Accountability Office that compares systems the world over. A Reid spokesman said Tuesday that after “weighing the two, this is where he landed.”

The senator thinks DesertXpress is much closer to reality and he became less interested in the maglev project because of its heavy reliance on public funding, spokesman Jon Summers said.

DesertXpress has “made more progress in the last couple of years than maglev has made in the past 30,” Summers said. “He wants to see something done.”

Reid’s position was a shift from just last year, when he helped secure $45 million in federal funding for planning the maglev route — money that remains largely untouched because the maglev group has only recently secured necessary matching funds.

At that time, Reid scoffed at a private train whose route to Las Vegas would begin 85 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles. Reid questioned whether visitors would drive through L.A. traffic to take a train the last 200 miles to Vegas.

“If it’s going to be really done in a big way, a Las Vegas way, the magnetic levitation would be the way to do it,” Reid said at the time. “If we can get this done, it will be the showboat of the world.”

More recently, Reid had been agnostic on the technology, saying he supports whatever line can be completed first.

Tom Stone, an executive with DesertXpress, saw immediate value in the senator’s position.

“We’re pleased the project has gained momentum, no question,” Stone said.

Since the president signed the recovery bill into law in February, Reid has been in contact multiple times with President Barack Obama and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood about the importance of establishing a high-speed route between Las Vegas and Southern California.

Already, 10 high-speed rail corridors established during the Clinton administration are eligible for a portion of recovery money. These corridors connect major cities across the United States.

Reid has talked to both Obama and LaHood about establishing a Las Vegas-Southern California route as a corridor. The Transportation secretary has the authority under existing law to designate an 11th corridor.

Maglev supporters, who met recently with LaHood, have sought a corridor designation specifically for the Vegas-to-Anaheim route.

From LA Times blog: Senate majority leader no longer aboard plan for maglev train to Vegas

Senate majority leader no longer aboard plan for maglev train to Vegas | L.A. Now | Los Angeles Times

Senate majority leader no longer aboard plan for maglev train to Vegas
5:48 PM | June 8, 2009

Lanowtrain

U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader and an ardent supporter of high speed rail systems, said today he no longer favors construction of a maglev -- or magnetic levitation -- train between Anaheim and Las Vegas.

Instead, the Nevada Democrat said he now favors a conventional high speed train between Victorville and Las Vegas -- a privately funded venture that is farther along in the planning process and cheaper to build than the maglev proposal, which has been studied for almost three decades.

“I”ve been working on this for 30 years," Reid said. "We’ve gotten nowhere. Maglev projects have been abandoned around the world. It’s time to stop talking and start doing something.”

The proposed DesertXpress is a steel-wheeled train that would travel up to 150 mph along the heavily traveled I-15 corridor. It would provide an alternative to motorists who often drive more than six hours one way during weekends to reach Las Vegas from the Los Angeles area. The 183-mile system is estimated to cost $3.5 billion to $4 billion.

In contrast, the system proposed by the American Maglev Group, which would rely on government funding and bonds sold to investors, would run 270 miles and cost at least $12 billion to build. A first leg is planned for Las Vegas to Primm on the Nevada-California line.

Maglev technology uses magnetic force to propel trains on a cushion of air down a guideway at speeds of more than 300 mph.

Citing a recent Government Accountability Office study, Reid said he had lost confidence in the maglev project, which the report stated could cost up to $40 billion -- far more than originally estimated.

“Maglev is not a priority for me anymore,” Reid said. “We need to get people moving. The I-15 is not working.”

-- Dan Weikel

Photo: A prototype magnetically levitated train, or maglev, travels over a bridge at a test center in Tsuru in Yamanashi Prefecture, central Japan, in late 1997. Credit: Kyodo News via Associated Press

Permalink | Comments (2) | Save/Share
Save/Share
Digg | Delicious | Reddit | Google | Mixx | Newsvine | Yahoo | Facebook
TrackBack

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8341c630a53ef011570ddbfe5970b

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Senate majority leader no longer aboard plan for maglev train to Vegas:
Comments

Someone explain how this LA-Vegas Hi-greed...er...Hi-speed rail system is a benefit for California. 90+% of the traffic will be Californians heading to Vegas to gamble away their money. Aside from hotels and casinos what else does Vegas have to offer? Win-win for state of Nevada, Not So much for CA.

Posted by: Warren | June 08, 2009 at 10:10 PM

Yay! Now, spend another $2-4 billion of government money to build it to CAHSR system specs and drag the line to the CAHSR station in palmdale and you've got the ability to go from Irvine/LA/Bakersfield/Sacramento/San Francisco without switching trains.

Posted by: KinOfCain | June 08, 2009 at 06:02 PM