http://www.lvbusinesspress.com/articles/2009/05/11/news/iq_28572714.txt(Interesting Read....) Though...both of these companies are missing the bigger picture by not involving the New Las Vegas airport out by Stateline and tying it with a stop at either McCarren and/or monorail station @ MGM. Theres got to be that connection.
HIGH-SPEED DASH FOR CASH
Two proposals revive hope for speedy rail service from Nevada to California
BY TIM O'REILEY
In the duel to build a high-speed train to Southern California, both sides look to Shanghai, China, to bolster their cases.
The California-Nevada Super Speed Train Commission and a consortium of private companies called American Magline Group, are pushing the construction of a magnetic levitation train that would eventually reach Anaheim. Maglev backers point to more than five years of what it calls the successful operation of a similar line running between the heart of China's business capital and its airport.
That has translated into what the group has taken as at least an indirect endorsement from President Barack Obama. "I don't want to see that fastest train in the world built halfway around the world in Shanghai," the president said during a campaign speech last year. "I want to see it built right here in America."
PHOTO COURTESY DESERTXPRESS
DesertXpress: Passenger rail line covering 184 miles along I-15 to Victorville, using a conventional wheels-on-rails design.
PHOTO COURTESY THE HERALD GROUP
California-Nevada Super Speed Train: Passenger line covering 269 miles on I-15 corridor to Anaheim, based on magnetic levitation.
Without designating projects, his recent stimulus spending package sets aside $8 billion for high-speed rail projects.
But DesertXpress, which has pushed for a conventional steel-on-rails design along I-15 to Victorville that would run at half the top speed of maglev, found support when the Chinese government abruptly switched course on a new line. Instead of following through with another maglev line running 100 miles from the provincial capital of Hangzhou to Shanghai, even after political endorsements last year, the Ministry of Railways instead broke ground on a project similar to what DesertXpress proposes.
"The (maglev) project was put on hold ... because of doubts about the technology, the project's high cost and residents' concerns about possible noise and electromagnetic pollution," according to a report in China Daily, a government-sanctioned English-language newspaper.
Either way, north-south high-speed trains have started to show tangible movement after decades of talk, including proposals that have evaporated in the desert. Late last month, three public hearings were held in DesertXpress' environmental impact statement, a key part of the Federal Railway Administration's approval process. DesertXpress executives expect this will put them on a path to break ground with private funding early next year.
In early April, maglev leaders met in Washington, D.C., with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to pitch their case for $1.8 billion in stimulus money to build the first segment from Las Vegas to Primm. Backed by a $45 million federal appropriation last year to navigate the approval process, money that requires local matching funds, maglev leaders laid out a scenario of finishing the Las Vegas-Primm segment before the next presidential election.
But there are wide disparities between the two sides, starting with the question of whether the Mojave desert is big enough for two trains. "There is not an opportunity for two financially viable projects," said Tom Stone, president and part owner of DesertXpress. "It is it not conceivable to me" that the federal government would spend billions of dollars on maglev if this group gets going first."
M. Neil Cummings, president of American Magline, expects DesertXpress would fade away if the maglev got under way first. But because of difference in routing and destinations, "There's no reason maglev couldn't be funded and built even with DesertXpress," he said.
In fact, the one factor the two sides generally agree on is the wide divergence in the two proposals, including how they are built: DesertXpress would run on conventional rails with trains designed to run at high speed, a design used often in Europe; Maglev would float a few inches over a single guideway on a magnetic field. Although the concept was first sketched out in the 1930s, only in Shanghai has a maglev ever gone into commercial service. That line, at 19 miles long, is less than one-tenth the Anaheim-Las Vegas proposal.
The maglev would extend to Anaheim, while DesertXpress would stop in Victorville, with a potential extension to Palmdale to connect with a separate proposed high-speed system being planned by California state government. DesertXpress backers say various bus and car connections would make it easy to get to the Los Angeles basin, but maglev backers say Victorville would have little appeal to drivers going north or south.
At an estimated $3.5 billion to $4 billion, DesertXpress would run about $20 million a mile, less than half of the maglev. Stopping at Victorville helps keep the price down by avoiding the difficult Cajon Pass and the Los Angeles area.
Maglev projects a $12 billion to $15 billion for the entire project. Several maglev projects, including ones envisioned in Munich, Germany, Washington, D.C. and San Diego, all carried price tags exceeding $100 million a mile. But Cummings explained that his project would be much cheaper because of a simpler design.
DesertXpress said it has raised more than $25 million from private backers and has undisclosed interest from private money to pay for the rest. Maglev would rely almost entirely on government grants and tax-exempt bonds.
The maglev would start with a $1.8 billion segment from Las Vegas to Primm, as much for public relations as for transportation. "People will come here to ride this," said Bruce Aguilera, chairman of the high-speed train commission. "Once you get people to understand it and see the potential, you'll understand why we've pursued it for so many years."
After that, another segment would be built from Anaheim to Ontario.
But DesertXpress backers contend the first stage would essentially go nowhere and would quickly lose its novelty value. They propose building all the way to Victorville at once.
Contact reporter Tim O'Reiley at
toreiley@lvbusinesspress.com or 702-387-5290.
California-Nevada Super Speed Train
The proposal: Passenger line covering 269 miles on I-15 corridor, to Anaheim based on magnetic levitation, where magentic force generated by cars and the guideway lifts the cars a few inches and propels it without touching any surface. First phase calls for 40 miles from Las Vegas to Primm. Second segment from Anaheim to Ontario International Airport.
The cost: Estimated $12 billion-15 billion, or $45 million-55 million a mile.
The backers: California-Nevada Super Speed Train Commission, created by the two state governments, and the American Magline Group, composed of General Atomics, Parsons Transportation Group and Hirschfeld Steel Co. and MNC & Associates.
Money source: Variety of government grants, tax-exempt bonds or private investment.
Intermediate stops: Ontario, Victorville, Barstow and Primm.
Trip time: 81 minutes from Anaheim as an express run.
Top speed: 311 mph
DesertXpress
The proposal: Passenger rail line covering 184 miles along I-15 to Victorville, using a conventional wheels-on-rails design. Possible 50-mile extension to Palmdale to connect with larger California rail project.
The cost: Estimated at $3.5 billion-$4 billion, or $19 million-22 million a mile.
The backers: Three investors, including Marnell Consulting, real estate investor Gary Tharaldson and Transmax LLC, the investment vehicle of DesertXpress president Tom Stone, a veteran transportation engineer and executive.
Money source: Private investment.
Intermediate stops: Primm listed as possible.
Trip time: 84 minutes from Victorville.
Top speed: 150 mph.
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