[HB2HSV]

Originally Posted by MrJester

Hopefully the arrival and even anticipation of the new station boosts property values and that neighborhood goes more upscale and thus safer.

A lot can be done. For example, if the train provider put in a well-lit parking lot with security patrol.

Keep in mind the City is a mega for federal prisons. It will take a lot to get ".... neighborhood goes more upscale and thus safer..."

Also, if you're afraid of auto theft, drive a BMW. Drive a luxury car. They're the least likely to be stolen.

Yeah go ahead and try that

[MrJester]

Originally Posted by HB2HSV

Yeah go ahead and try that

I know it's super counterintuitive, but really, the shocking truth is that it's older, smaller cars that are most likely to get stolen, like Honda Civics.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...pKBG0IIAuOtzEZ

And surprise, BMW 3 series is the least likely model to be stolen.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...Ciwsb5T5yfFsBs

Thieves steal cars for the parts, not for the car itself, and the parts of the most common (I.e. budget) cars are the most in demand.

[RationalExpectations]

Originally Posted by HB2HSV

The high cost of building a rail through the Cajon Pass.

If this project comes to realization, I can see the pressure from MTA to put in a transit line from San Bernardino to Victorville.

Possibly. But note that makes it a 3 leg journey from LA:

• LA to San Bernardino, change to
• San Bernardino to Victorville, and once again change to
• Victorville to Las Vegas.

Still sux.

I'd just fly non-stop.

[richzimme]

The only time the I 15 has traffic between Victorville and Las Vegas is Friday and Sunday afternoons. Outside of this, the drive between VVille and Vegas is a piece of cake. Train is just a stupid idea.

[JohnG72]

Originally Posted by richzimme

The only time the I 15 has traffic between Victorville and Las Vegas is Friday and Sunday afternoons. Outside of this, the drive between VVille and Vegas is a piece of cake. Train is just a stupid idea.

This is of course the correct answer. And it’s not even busy all Fridays and Sundays.

I still content all this got started because a very stupid California politician (we have more of these than you can shake a stick at) went with family to Las Vegas on Memorial Day or Labor Day and was just *appalled* at how long the drive took to get back to LA. And so pitched the idea that there just gotta be a better way and some other rich elite idiot clinger ons were like “oh the trains in Europe are just SPLENDID!!!!” And some other smarter but more corrupt politicians could see the numerous graft opportunities and so the idea was born.

It remains incredibly unnecessary and will have ridiculously low ridership because no ones hopping on a train to shave literally no time off the remaining two hour drive into Las Vegas.

[VLWH]

Originally Posted by RationalExpectations

Possibly. But note that makes it a 3 leg journey from LA:

• LA to San Bernardino, change to
• San Bernardino to Victorville, and once again change to
• Victorville to Las Vegas.

Still sux.

I'd just fly non-stop.

Really a five leg journey when you add the trip from your house to the LA bus station and then the LV station to your destination. Every layer you add just decreases the likelihood of getting passengers from switching their mode of travel to LV.

Passenger car is the most popular for the obvious reasons, such as no scheduled leave time and not having to drag luggage from stop to another. The draw backs are that you must have a dedicated driver, traffic and travel time.

The high speed train would only really be successful if passengers had easy access from near their home, such as through LA. In addition, the travel time would have to be cut by half.

For now, driving and plane travel are the go to mode of travel to LV.

[sacreole]

The Victorville to Vegas Train just got sidelined due to flat bond sales.

“On Sunday, the proposed Victorville-Las Vegas high speed rail line was halted indefinitely after the project failed to sell $2.4 billion in bonds.

Fortress Investment Group, who is backing the Brightline West project, had received $600 million in bond allocations from the state of California in April, with the hope of reselling them later at a federally leveraged rate this year for up to $2.4 billion. However, due to the COVID-19 economic recession, very few, if any, buyers of the bonds had come forward. Now, with less than a month to go until the December 1st deadline, California state Treasurer Fiona Ma said that the state will take back the bond allocations.”

https://californiaglobe.com/section-...ine-postponed/

[Cold Warrior]

However, due to the COVID-19 economic recession, very few, if any, buyers of the bonds had come forward

So, it had nothing at all to do with low return and high risk?

[JB316]

It's more likely that the rail will eventually extend from Victorville to Palmdale than it is down the Cajon Pass.



https://la.streetsblog.org/2020/08/1...gh-speed-rail/

[Mike from back east]

Time to update this thread with some news. Today's WaPo has an article on expanded rail service via both Amtrak expansion and some lines by new commercial rail operators. The proposed line between L.A. / SOCAL and Las Vegas got some ink. THIS LINK will get you past the paywall to read the full article. Here are a few excerpts:

Brightline, the only private passenger railroad in the country, is slated to open its newest station here later this year, providing a train connection between Orlando International Airport and South Florida in three hours. Meanwhile, work is progressing on high-speed projects in Western states and Texas, while Amtrak is eyeing its biggest expansion in 52 years.

Florida is Version 1.0, and we think it’s a great 1.0,” said Wes Edens, the billionaire co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks basketball team and co-founder of Fortress Investment Group, which owns Brightline. “Version 2.0, the high-speed rail from Vegas to L.A., we think is the real embodiment of what high-speed rail can and should look like.

The 218-mile Las Vegas-to-suburban-Los Angeles route, dubbed Brightline West, has land, federal reviews and labor agreements in place, and company leaders say it could be built in four years.

I'm hoping they make it work and get it done asap; it would be a great improvement.