16 replies to this topic

[NickG]

From the Victorville, CA Daily Press, 6/4/06:

VICTORVILLE — Southern Californians could park their cars in Victorville and be in Vegas in little more than an hour, if a privately funded high-speed train gains momentum.

The full story is here.

[JAChooChoo]

From the Victorville, CA Daily Press, 6/4/06:

VICTORVILLE — Southern Californians could park their cars in Victorville and be in Vegas in little more than an hour........

At 125 max, running time would be about 1h 45m, then there is check-in, loading, then debarking - all of which comes to 2h 30m, about 30m less than optimum driving time. Now I'll admit that I have no concept of traffic on I-15.


I just find it difficult to believe that anyone could fund such a huge startup cost.

[Sam Damon]

Some more coverage, this time from a weekly Las Vegas, NV business newspaper:

Train service between Southern California and Las Vegas, a dream some tourism leaders have had since Amtrak discontinued its Desert Wind service in May 1997, would get a fresh start under a proposal aired this week by a Las Vegas company.

Thomas Stone, president of DesertXpress Enterprises Inc., outlined plans for a $3 billion high-speed train proposal to link Las Vegas with Victorville, Calif.

We should note that in this article, nothing is mentioned about who would pay for this project.

[EvergreenRailfan]

It's too much to hope for, but I do hope this works out. IF Federal, State and Local groups sign off, I wonder, would UNION PACIFIC be the last obstacle before the geographical barriers are encountered?

[AlanB]

From the Victorville, CA Daily Press, 6/4/06:

VICTORVILLE — Southern Californians could park their cars in Victorville and be in Vegas in little more than an hour........

At 125 max, running time would be about 1h 45m, then there is check-in, loading, then debarking - all of which comes to 2h 30m, about 30m less than optimum driving time. Now I'll admit that I have no concept of traffic on I-15.

While I'm hardly an expert on So Cal, it would seem to me that this proposal misses the mark. Based upon my recent experience driving on I-15 last month, one encounters the worst traffic delays south of Victorville. While I understand the geographic issues involved, failure to reach at least the San Berndardino/Ontario area, could well be the difference between sucess and failure on any such project.

As formidable as the San Gabriel Mountains are, IMHO they must get beyond them and into the LA Basin area to make this a truly viable and useful service to the residents of So Cal.

It's too much to hope for, but I do hope this works out. IF Federal, State and Local groups sign off, I wonder, would UNION PACIFIC be the last obstacle before the geographical barriers are encountered?

Since at least based upon the article, they plan to lay their own new tracks, UP may not have much to say about it. And as long as the operators don't try to start running frieght on their new tracks, I think that UP will have a very hard time convincing the politicians to oppose this idea.

[ICGsteve]

One would assume that they are not going further south because this company is not willing to pay for land, nor for the cost of crossing roads. The cost per mile goes way up as they enter developed areas. I also figure that they have no intention of paying for stations, and expect to get mega bucks out of the fed's by having money directed to I-15 which has no other reason to be spent but to facilitate the railroad. There is no way that the numbers work for this to be a private development, they seem to want to call it private while a huge chunk of the building costs will come from various public sector accounts, plus government aid in financing. Even with his slight of hand I seriously doubt that the numbers work. Next step will be to lie about the numbers, which does sometimes work.

[Sam Damon]

The weekly Las Vegas, NV business newspaper pumps the proposal up some more:

Since the Desert Wind disappeared, other proposals have surfaced to bring train service back to Las Vegas.

The most recent plan, put forth by DesertXpress Enterprises Inc. last month, may have the most realistic chance at success.

The $3 billion proposal is offering something earlier plans didn't have — its own dedicated track. That alone should give the DesertXpress a better chance to make it than an Amtrak proposal that sputtered in the early 2000s.

[EvergreenRailfan]

So it does have a name now. DesertXpress does sound good. Critics on this one do have a point, and that is that it needs to get to Los Angeles. Too bad they cannont add a 4th Track over Cajon Pass. Although times were different when UNION Pacific ran the underpowered Aerotrain on the City of Las Vegas, so there is no way for the trains to share Cajon. Too much freight traffic.

[Sam Damon]

A bit of a reality check, complete with numbers:

Great dreams never seem to die, and the building of railroads is one such dream.

For as long as there has been a Las Vegas, there has been a railroad. Only in the late 1990s did Amtrak finally stop passenger service to the city and make those who must ride the rails catch the bus to Needles, Calif., to do so.

The author goes through the numbers at the bottom of the article from the Las Vegas, NV, Las Vegas Business Press.

They aren't pretty.

[EvergreenRailfan]

The author does have a point. In order to get people to pay good money to ride it, it would be best to get it all the way to Southern California, because most people would press forward, in there cars, when they drive past Victorville.