Levitating train from L.A. to Las Vegas gets boost

NYonward · #1 Posted **Jun 7, 2008, 2:56 AM**

AP

Levitating train from L.A. to Las Vegas gets boost

Jun 6 05:54 PM US/Eastern

WASHINGTON (AP) - Plans for a levitating train from Las Vegas to Disneyland can move forward under a transportation bill signed by President Bush on Friday that frees up $45 million for the futuristic project.

Derided by critics as pie in the sky, the train would use magnetic levitation technology to carry passengers from Disneyland to Las Vegas in well under two hours, traveling at speeds of up to 300 mph. It would be the first MagLev system in the U.S.

The money is the largest cash infusion in the project's nearly 20-year history. It will pay for environmental studies for the first leg of the project.

The money had been delayed by a drafting error in Congress' 2005 highway bill, which was corrected along with some other changes by the legislation signed Friday by Bush. The delay had allowed a competing and cheaper diesel-electric plan to emerge as an alternative, but with the money now freed up supporters hope to move forward with the MagLev plan.

The train is meant to ease traffic on increasingly clogged Interstate 15, the main route for the millions of Southern Californians who make the 250-plus-mile drive to Las Vegas each year. There is no train on the route—Amtrak's Desert Wind between Los Angeles and Las Vegas was canceled in 1997 because of low ridership.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., praised passage of the law, saying the MagLev project "will safely and efficiently move people between Southern California and Las Vegas."

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

http://www.mercurynews.com/politics/ci_9504620

mr.x · #2 Posted **Jun 7, 2008, 3:01 AM**

this would be amazing....How many billions would this project cost?

Echo Park · #3 Posted **Jun 7, 2008, 3:05 AM**

this is a stupid project

zaphod · #4 Posted **Jun 7, 2008, 3:06 AM**

of all the places that maglev could go, they want to build one between Disneyland and Vegas???

I suppose the only thing is it runs across desert where the land could easier to obtain but honestly...

Echo Park · #5 Posted **Jun 7, 2008, 3:14 AM**

exactly its just a tourist line. why spend billions on this when connects from San Diego to LA to the central valley to the bay area are desperately needed? I understand its a private firm doing this but still like I siad they could put their money to better use.

twoNeurons · #6 Posted **Jun 7, 2008, 3:26 AM**

It least it would be a good proof-of-concept. Did Shanghai NEED to build a Mag-lev? No... it could've used HSR without affecting travel time that much to the airport... however, now it's PROVEN in China.... Same thing with LRT and Portland.

var · #7 Posted **Jun 7, 2008, 3:50 AM**

$45 million? It wouldn't pay even for 1 kilometer of Maglev line.

Quote:

mr.x2 this would be amazing....How many billions would this project cost?

250 miles=400 kilometers x $50 million per kilometer = $20 billion...

In orther words, forget it, it will never get built. There is no way to pay back such a capital cost.

Quote:

Echo Park
exactly its just a tourist line. why spend billions on this when connects from San Diego to LA to the central valley to the bay area are desperately needed? I understand its a private firm doing this but still like I siad they could put their money to better use.

Maglev's can never be financed privetly. Capital cost is prohibitive. Maglev has a chance only if a stupid enough government has too deep pockets. These two factors have to coincide as was the case in Shanghai...

Echo Park · #8 Posted **Jun 7, 2008, 4:32 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by tintinium

It least it would be a good proof-of-concept. Did Shanghai NEED to build a Mag-lev? No... it could've used HSR without affecting travel time that much to the airport... however, now it's PROVEN in China.... Same thing with LRT and Portland.

well china has the money to spend on slave labor to go willy nilly with rail lines. but i think with the current economic climate and the inability to get federal dollars for mass transit in california, public-private partnerships are important in building rail networks, and this disneyland-LV line sounds like a boondoggle

Vtown420 · #9 Posted **Jun 7, 2008, 4:38 AM**

Anyone who has been stuck in a 50 mile long traffic jam in the middle of the Mojave Desert knows how badly this is needed. This would be huge for Vegas. I would be on this thing every weekend. Can you imagine whisking by the traffic on I-15 at 300 miles per hour? It would be amazing!

This $45 million is just for a study. The first segment would run from Vegas to the new airport in Primm. $45 million isn’t much, and maybe I'm dreaming, but any mention of maglev gets me excited! I don’t see why it’s impossible. We can fund the war in Iraq, but we can’t build some much needed infrastructure?

WonderlandPark · #10 Posted **Jun 7, 2008, 5:01 AM**

HSR between Vegas and LA has been talked about for decades now. The first proposals were put forward in the 80's when I was in freaking high school, yes I am old. Ain't going to happen, sorry, it is easier to throw up a few more lanes on the 15 than even build a single mile of this boondoggle. Nevada DOT has rebuilt the 15 to Stateline, no reason with some casino money that they can't light a fire under Caltrans lazy and underfunded ass and get Victorville to Stateline up to snuff. I, too have been stuck in the middle of the desert at 1AM, it is amazing if you have never seen such a spectacle, but almost every summer or holiday weekend, the jam is nasty. But something must be done, 2 more lanes on the 15 are a hella lot easier than some stupid maglev costing 20 billion and delivered in 2040.

ardecila · #11 Posted **Jun 7, 2008, 7:33 AM**

Yeah, I'm inclined to agree. Even if they want to do rail, why a maglev? It's a ridiculous expenditure, when the "Desert Wind" could be revived for a few paltry million per year.

If people like the idea of riding a train from LA to Vegas - they probably won't, since you can't get around Vegas without a car, but rental services could fix that - then perhaps upgrades to the line can be made to bring service speeds to 110, 120 mph - that would be be somewhere between 2.5 and 3 hours, which is exactly the same travel time as driving, if there were no congestion.

deasine · #12 Posted **Jun 7, 2008, 8:41 AM**

Wouldn't just regular HSR work better for this... I think it's a waste of money too...

Vtown420 · #13 Posted **Jun 7, 2008, 9:25 AM**

Why maglev? Because it can compete with the airlines. It would be just as fast and less hassle. It wouldn’t require fossil fuels, and it wouldn’t pollute. The Desert Wind was shut down because nobody rode it. It took ten freakin hours to get to Vegas. If rail can’t compete with a 45 minute flight plus the usual wait, it’s not worth it imo. If it can’t compete with driving, then it has absolutely no chance.

HSR might work, but the only HSR proposed is the ridiculous Desert Express from Victorville to Vegas, which no one will ever use. Who would drive to Victorville to take a train when they are practically halfway there?

Sure it’s easier to widen I-15, but we need other options than driving. And as fuel prices rise, this thing could compete and make a lot of money. I think if this was for California, say LA to San Fran, you guys would be all for it. I also think the casinos should pitch in a couple billion to get it going. They are losing millions every time there is a traffic jam on I-15. Although I would rather it go to Downtown LA or even better, a beach city, Anaheim is a good location as it is pretty central to Southern Cal. Like I said, maybe I’m crazy, but I’m allowed to dream. The government has spent more money on much stupider things. I think it would very popular.

Quote from Senator Reid:
“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. “We could bring someone from L.A. to Las Vegas, and vice-versa, in less than an hour,” he said. “If we can get this done, it will be the showboat of the world.”

Some guy who posted on the Review-Journal had a good idea. In return for the Yucca Mountain nuke dump, we get a maglev to Cali with a giant water pipe underneath leading to our very own desalination plant.

Nutterbug · #14 Posted **Jun 7, 2008, 10:47 AM**

I have a better idea.

Liberalize gambling and prostitution laws in California, and take away any reason to go to Las Vegas. Keep the money in the state.

waterloowarrior · #15 Posted **Jun 7, 2008, 2:25 PM**

california high speed rail
I can't wait until this project gets funded.. they have a really cool website btw that has visualizations of the route.

ardecila · #16 Posted **Jun 7, 2008, 8:23 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vtown420

Why maglev? Because it can compete with the airlines. It would be just as fast and less hassle. It wouldn’t require fossil fuels, and it wouldn’t pollute. The Desert Wind was shut down because nobody rode it. It took ten freakin hours to get to Vegas. If rail can’t compete with a 45 minute flight plus the usual wait, it’s not worth it imo. If it can’t compete with driving, then it has absolutely no chance.

Ten hours is absolutely unacceptable for a 270 mile trip. Why did it take so long? The only possibility I can see is freight traffic delaying the train...

schwerve · #17 Posted **Jun 7, 2008, 11:52 PM**

I can't understand why they wouldn't just propose a similar technology to the California high speed rail proposal and tie into their system. not only would that allow for a direct connection to la proper but it would be cheaper and still be time competitive...

DJM19 · #18 Posted **Jun 8, 2008, 2:15 AM**

Not a cent of it should come from california tax payers. Make casinos pay for it. It would lopsidedly benefit vegas and run mostly through California's land.

urbanactivist · #19 Posted **Jun 8, 2008, 2:24 AM**

Not to sound dumb but is Las Vegas really that important to So Cal?? Wouldn't a project like this be more benefit if it connected.... oh I don't know... San Diego or SF??? Something tells me more people travel between LA and those cities than LA-LV.

Damn, even LA-Phoenix is probably equal with Lost Wages.

NYonward · #20 Posted **Jun 8, 2008, 3:54 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJM19

Not a cent of it should come from california tax payers. Make casinos pay for it. It would lopsidedly benefit vegas and run mostly through California's land.

Sounds good, but in practice you would have something like the Vegas monorail: incoherent, difficult to navigate, and customers whose purpose is to only make money from and not provide a useful service to. Hell, the monorail there is even overpiced IMO. So much for that notion the free market does everything better.