Tuesday, June 10, 2008 | 2:05 a.m.
President Bush signed legislation that is reviving talk of a high-speed train between Las Vegas and Southern California.
The transportation “technical corrections bill” includes $45 million to study environmental issues along the first leg of a route, proposed by a public-private partnership, from Las Vegas to Primm.
Wording in the 2005 highway bill contained errors that held up the money until Congress passed the corrections bill and Bush signed it Friday.
A second, private proposal to build a high-speed train was developed after 2005 and remains a contender in the push to whisk travelers to and from Las Vegas and cities near Los Angeles.
The federal money approved Friday will go to the California-Nevada Super Speed Train Commission and its private-sector partner, the American Magline Group.
This partnership is proposing a train using magnetic levitation technology. This “MagLev” plan gained traction 20 years ago and has received about $10 million in federal money.
A MagLev train would allow passengers to travel at an average speed of 180 mph on its 268-mile route ending in Anaheim, Calif., home of Disneyland. It would cost more than $12 billion.
The private proposal is from a company called DesertXpress Enterprises and is projected to cost about $3 billion. Though high-tech, the train would use more conventional rail technology and reach a top speed of 125 mph as it traversed the 190 miles between Las Vegas and Victorville, Calif.
Both proposals anticipate ridership levels that would allow the project to more than pay for itself. A completed project would have the additional advantage of serving as a model for other congested areas of the country.
Federal transportation officials will ultimately decide which, if either, of these projects gets built. Rights of way over federal land have to be decided and the environmental impacts carefully reviewed.
Barring any significant environmental problems, our view is that a high-speed train between Las Vegas and Southern California is becoming necessary for the economies of both regions.
Join the Discussion:
Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.
Full comments policy