The idea of a high-speed train from Los Angeles to Las Vegas has been discussed for years, but the Central Valley Business Times has recently reported that the proposal has gained an important stamp of approval. The federal Surface Transportation Board (STB) has recently approved the 190-mile bullet train proposal, which is very important because construction of every new railroad in the country needs STB approval. The line is to be built by DesertXpress Enterprises LLC, who plans on using all-electric trains to reach 150 mph speeds with room for higher top speeds in the future. Approval for the line comes with some conditions however and DesertXpress must implement 146 environmental mitigation measures recommended approved by the Federal Railroad Administration. Apart from the starting and ending destinations, the route is also planned to have stops in Victorville, California and central Las Vegas. DesertXpress plans to finalize the project designs and begin construction in 2012 with completion projected for the end of 2016.
The L.A.-Las Vegas bullet train would provide a viable transportation alternative to flying and driving. The train would also greatly benefit congestion on the I-15, which is currently the only freeway connecting the two major cities. Environmental benefits are also projected for the reduction of cars on the I-15.
Approval for a high-speed link between Los Angeles and Las Vegas is great news. Thousands of people drive and fly from Los Angeles to Las Vegas every weekend and a bullet train will offer a great alternative for those who would like to avoid the hassle of air travel or the frustration of time consuming car rides. While the future of California’s other high-speed rail project is highly uncertain, this project seems much more likely to see construction and completion. It’s exciting to imagine that in less than five years, it may be possible for Southern California residents to hop on a train in L.A. and relax as they are effortlessly shuttled to Las Vegas at speeds of 150 miles per hour.
Posted in High-Speed Rail
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If this plan goes forward I am gonna be a happy camper
and union scum will have to be hired, thus creating an unsustainable business model that the tax payers will end up bailing out. F this!!!
New services typically negotiate modern work rules that make their models sustainable. RR unions did great things in the early 20th century — eliminated 15-hour days, improved safety conditions, got fair pay, helped make the working class middle class. Then as the systems shrank and technology changed, RR unions probably did demand too much — heavy crews on diesels, a day’s pay for a 100 miles even when trains routinely did several hundred miles in the same time period, etc. But even the rules that still survive — and they are not as many as they used to be — don’t automatically carry over to new companies, especially on new track. Frontrunner in Utah has conductorless trains, for example.
There is just one small problem, Chris. Desertxpress doesn’t go to L.A. It stops in Victorville. If the California High speed rail project doesn’t happen (and it doesn’t look good right now, and it certainly won’t be ready in 5 years), there is no connection from Victorville to Palmdale and then to L.A. Now if they went with a maglev design (much more expensive but faster), they could handle the grading going up the Cajon Pass and actually have a workable alternative to car and air travel from L.A. to Vegas. By trying to compromise on the cost you screw up the value of the project. Just look at the Vegas monorail as an excellent example of that. Who is going to drive from L.A. to Victorville and then take a train to Vegas? Is anyone going to take the train to Victorville and rent a car to go to L.A.? I love the idea of high speed rail from L.A. to Vegas. But this is not the way to do it.
True the idea of a train going from LA to Vegas non-stop would be a great concept, but you also have to factor in the size of Victorville/San Bernardino/Riverside (Inland Empire). There’s a MUCH better chance of a LA resident driving an hour and a half then hopping on a train, as opposed to an Inland Empire resident driving an hour or so out to LA, getting on a train, then backtracking past Victorville on their way to Las Vegas.
I have to assume that any rail between LA and Las Vegas would have to transit the “Inland Empire” so I don’t see why anyone would necessarily have to travel to LA. This is probably the only HSR project that realy makes any sense and it should be paid for by casinos, rail, and the tourism industry with the Fed and States just providing needed legislation and rights of way. By the way regarding the that “Empire”, I have always wondered, who is the Emperor? Can’t have an Empire with out one you know.
We all love the sound of “Bullet Train” And how fun it would be to go to Las Vegas on one. But how does this provide viable transportation?
You something is a good idea when it DOES NOT require Govt. Funding. Even the Casinos must have done the math or they would have built it years ago.
Check out this article.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/feb/21/desert-xpress-going-after-tax-dollars-after-all/
Who is going to ride this line from Victorville? Who is going to park their car in Victorville to save a couple of hours and having to rent a car or be without a car in Las Vegas. Even if the Line went all the way to LA the only people using it would be people going to the LA Vegas hotels and casinos. So why should all of us subsidize people going to a resort? This HSR line only benefits the Las Vegas hotels and casinos and their guest let them pay for this project not us tax payers.
If they don’t extend the line from Victorville to Palmdale (where at least people can transfer from the Metrolink train….okay, you have to transfer trains once, but, at least you can ride a train from downtown Los Angeles to downtown Las Vegas and not have to rent a car) then this thing is a TOTAL white elephant money hole. They better get their acts together and build the extension to Palmdale. That’s a straight shot across 30 miles of flat, undeveloped desert, so there’s no excuse for them to avoid building that part of it.