SoCal-Vegas High Speed Rail may be built before California HSR? (Los Angeles: to rent, loans)

[18Montclair]

Ive long felt that a SoCal-Vegas HSR made far more sense than a NorCal-SoCal HSR. And MUCH CHEAPER. $6 Billion vs $40 Billion.

Hell, this thing is cheaper than the new Bay Bridge.

Dubbed the DesertXpress

http://www.kcet.org/updaily/socal_focus/DX-HS-map.jpg


http://www.kcet.org/updaily/socal_fo...sertxpress.jpg

The passenger-only rail system will travel speeds reaching 150 miles per hour on a new grade-separated dedicated double track along I-15. The trip from strip-to-station will take 80 to 85 minutes.

The announcement may also heat up regional lobbying for the Las Vegas station, a location not yet selected. Victorville will be the site for the California station. A future westward link would extend the route to Palmdale, connecting it to California's planned high-speed rail project.

Not cooling down are the Southern California cities that will be bypassed by the route. Opposing the DesertXpress is the city of Barstow, located 34 miles north of Victorville.

According to an economic study commissioned by the city, traffic traveling to and from Las Vegas through Barstow will decrease by up to 33 percent resulting in the loss of 2,295 jobs once the train is running, and that Barstow Councilman Tim Silva is still committed stop the train's progress, reports the Desert Dispatch.

The 6-year project has been privately funded, said DesertXpress CEO Andrew Mack after the conference, before confirming they applied for federal loans up to $4.9 billion through the Railroad Rehabilitation & Improvement Financing program.

Desert High-Speed Rail Stays On Track: Groundbreaking Could be in a Year | Transportation | SoCal Focus | KCET

Go for it SoCal!

[ferretkona]

Wish Laughlin was included.

[bhcompy]

If it only connects to Victorville it still sucks. The worst part of the commute is getting to and through the Cajon Pass

[DarkWolf]

Its by a Private company. But its cheaper because its one line and not a Network and goes over flat land. There is also no massive NIMBY group attacking this like the Main network. But hopefully if this starter line is successful they will build the line form Victorville to LA which would cut costs for the CHSR. The Problem is what do you use once you get to LV , there isn't a big Transit system in place....

[BRinSM]

i want to know what kind of stupid investor is putting up money for a train that ends in victorville. the desertxpress company must have some pretty good magic elixir/snake oil salesman working for them. if this does go through i think it will be about as successful as the monorail that already exists in vegas.

[Oerdin]

The company which wanted to build this pulled out 4-5 years ago. Basically, they couldn't get financing so the company was demanding the state buy and then give them huge right of ways (5-6 times larger then would be needed for one train line) so the company could sell the other right of ways to raise cash. The state government, rightly, told them to beat sand. They need to come up with some sort of money on their own and not have the state pay for everything; why even let the private company own anything if the state is paying on the bills on it's own?

[Oerdin]

Originally Posted by bhcompy

If it only connects to Victorville it still sucks. The worst part of the commute is getting to and through the Cajon Pass

It would have to have a few stops in greater LA including downtown LA so that this line connects to the greater state HSR system.

[18Montclair]

Yeah, I guess if its end point is Victorville it might be a boondoggle. LOL.

[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by 18Montclair

Ive long felt that a SoCal-Vegas HSR made far more sense than a NorCal-SoCal HSR. And MUCH CHEAPER. $6 Billion vs $40 Billion.

Hell, this thing is cheaper than the new Bay Bridge.

Dubbed the DesertXpress



Go for it SoCal!

The worst part of the drive is getting out of LA, once you're out...it's smooth sailing. You really think people will drive 2 hours to Victorville, park their cars (is it even free), go through security, wait for a train and then try to figure out a way to get to the strip? I know the station in Las Vegas isn't going to be near the strip. So now you are looking at an expensive cab ride or having to rent a car. I doubt you'd save any time taking this train to Vegas when you factor in parking, security, delays, transportation to the strip etc. On top of that...why would anyone from Las Vegas take the train to Victorville? There's nothing in Victorville! I can see it now...Victorville to Vegas 20% occupancy...Vegas to Victorville 1% occupancy. I can see this project losing millions each year.

If they built the station in LOS ANGELES, it'd be a completely different story. I'd support the idea 100%.

[catiej]

There should be absolutely ZERO subsidies from the state of California for this thing. Not just because the beginning/ending in Victorville makes no sense. The whole thing encourages Californians to spend their money in Vegas. This takes money out of California's economy. Not just the money that they spend out of state, but with a train, there are less opportunities to spend along the way in California. People can spend money where and how they like, but the state of California shouldn't help facilitate a way that loses jobs (other some short term construction jobs to lay the rail) for the state. The only government entities that would be partially sane in subsidizing this likely boondogle would be the State of Nevada or the city of Las Vegas and the city of Victorville. They stand to gain. California only loses.