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Originally Posted by Las Vegas Sun

Developers cleared to start DesertXpress engineering
By Richard N. Velotta (contact)
Las Vegas Sun
Tuesday
12 July 2011
7:43 p.m.

The U.S. Transportation Department has issued a record of decision on the controversial $5 billion DesertXpress high-speed rail project that would link Las Vegas with Victorville, Calif.

A record of decision is the final step in the arduous process of preparing an environmental impact statement. Approval of the document clears the private developers of the project, DesertXpress Enterprises LLC, to begin preliminary engineering for the 186-mile rail line.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s office issued a news release Tuesday announcing the record of decision.

This “announcement is about one thing: creating good-paying jobs right here in Nevada,” the Nevada Democrat said in the release. “This major step forward for the privately sponsored DesertXpress project will create more than 32,000 jobs in Southern Nevada and boost our economy by providing another way for tourists to visit and enjoy this great state.”

The announcement comes days before an anticipated House vote in which Republicans have vowed to divert $1.5 billion earmarked for high-speed rail projects to Midwest flood relief.

Such a move could deliver a financial blow to the California High Speed Rail Authority, which is counting on federal funding to help develop a rail line between Los Angeles and San Francisco and Sacramento.

DesertXpress officials are counting on extending their line from Victorville to the California system with a 50-mile link west to Palmdale. Currently, that’s the only plan in place for passengers to travel between Las Vegas and Los Angeles. Critics have ripped Victorville as a terminus of the DesertXpress route, saying Southern Californians wouldn’t park their cars there to ride the train and Las Vegans wanting to go to Southern California would have to rent cars to continue their journey.

The Federal Railroad Administration has overseen the environmental review process, which began in 2006. The process was complicated because the route crossed land administered by the Federal Highway Administration, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service and Surface Transportation Board, and each agency had to sign off on the plan.

The twin-track route would run primarily within the Interstate 15 right-of-way, with trains reaching speeds of about 150 mph. Company officials have estimated ticket prices to average $50 each way. An estimated 26 percent of Las Vegas visitors come from Southern California.

A UNLV report says the DesertXpress project would produce an estimated 17,469 primary jobs and 16,432 secondary jobs in Clark County by 2013.

Read More: http://www.vegasinc.com/news/2011/ju...s-engineering/