STB Approves Desertxpress

[leemell]

L.A.- Las Vegas Bullet Train is Approved by Federal Board

Posted: 27 Oct 2011 01:14 AM PDT

The idea of a high-speed train from Los Angeles to Las Vegas has been discussed for years, but the Central Valley Business Times has recently reported that the proposal has gained an important stamp of approval. The federal Surface Transportation Board (STB) has recently approved the 190-mile bullet train proposal, which is very important because construction of every new railroad in the country needs STB approval. The line is to be built by DesertXpress Enterprises LLC, who plans on using all-electric trains to reach 150 mph speeds with room for higher top speeds in the future. Approval for the line comes with some conditions however and DesertXpress must implement 146 environmental mitigation measures recommended approved by the Federal Railroad Administration. Apart from the starting and ending destinations, the route is also planned to have stops in Victorville, California and central Las Vegas. DesertXpress plans to finalize the project designs and begin construction in 2012 with completion projected for the end of 2016....

They have this wrong. It starts in Victorville, not LA

 

[bobnabq]

I think that's great news. It's ridiculous that folks now have to take a bus to Los Vegas or fly.

And I don't know why, if I want to go to Las Vegas from ABQ now, I have to take Amtrak to LAX and a bus to Las Vegas.

Why doesn't Amtrak provide a bus from Flagstaff to Las Vegas?

In the future, at least I can take a bullet train from LAx to Vegas.

 

[Steve4031]

How close will this be to the Amtrak station in victorville?

 

[grounded flyboy]

Run 6 round trips per day and this train will be full every trip. But there is a catch... some environmentalist will find a desert sand tick that cannot possibly survive within 50 miles of this track.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Run 6 round trips per day and this train will be full every trip. But there is a catch... some environmentalist will find a desert sand tick that cannot possibly survive within 50 miles of this track.

I've met hundreds of environmentalists over the years and not a single one was overtly anti-rail. Many commercial projects that exhaust their funding or run into other problems love to blame their failure on America's environmental policies while carefully omitting that our protections are some of the weakest among industrialized democracies.

 

[Anderson]

Run 6 round trips per day and this train will be full every trip. But there is a catch... some environmentalist will find a desert sand tick that cannot possibly survive within 50 miles of this track.

I've met hundreds of environmentalists over the years and not a single one was overtly anti-rail. Many commercial projects that exhaust their funding or run into other problems love to blame their failure on America's environmental policies while carefully omitting that our protections are some of the weakest among industrialized democracies.

You get a mixed bag. Most of the time, "environmental concerns" are an excuse for opponents to a project to slow it down or try and kill it, and they're a relatively inoffensive attack against even a popular project (after all, everyone loves the environment, right?).

With that said, environmental jam-ups are a big problem for public sector projects...mainly because of how long the "planning phase" can take and the number of objections that can be raised.

 

[GG-1]

Aloha

While I Want rail service to and from Vegas, a 190 route to Victorville is a waste. It is 231 miles to my daughter's house near Fullerton. I don't remember how close to to the Amtrak station the Desert Express will be but changing trains for a third of the route is a waste. Travelers would be better served by the slower Desert Wind being restored. My guess if the powers really wanted it, it could be running in a week or two. 10 cars 2 engines must be somewhere near by, and I believe would cover 2 times a day in push pull.

LAX- SAN is not to much less than LAX-Vegas would be

 

[leemell]

Aloha

While I Want rail service to and from Vegas, a 190 route to Victorville is a waste. It is 231 miles to my daughter's house near Fullerton. I don't remember how close to to the Amtrak station the Desert Express will be but changing trains for a third of the route is a waste. Travelers would be better served by the slower Desert Wind being restored. My guess if the powers really wanted it, it could be running in a week or two. 10 cars 2 engines must be somewhere near by, and I believe would cover 2 times a day in push pull.

LAX- SAN is not to much less than LAX-Vegas would be

You know of course the major stumbling block is UP. It was ready to go a few years ago and was killed by UP.

 

[GG-1]

Aloha

While I Want rail service to and from Vegas, a 190 route to Victorville is a waste. It is 231 miles to my daughter's house near Fullerton. I don't remember how close to to the Amtrak station the Desert Express will be but changing trains for a third of the route is a waste. Travelers would be better served by the slower Desert Wind being restored. My guess if the powers really wanted it, it could be running in a week or two. 10 cars 2 engines must be somewhere near by, and I believe would cover 2 times a day in push pull.

LAX- SAN is not to much less than LAX-Vegas would be

You know of course the major stumbling block is UP. It was ready to go a few years ago and was killed by UP.

Aloha

Yes UP is a major issue, but so are the 2 states, and the Federal government at fault, because way to many officials, have lost sight of their duties to represent the people of this country.

 

[Anderson]

Aloha

While I Want rail service to and from Vegas, a 190 route to Victorville is a waste. It is 231 miles to my daughter's house near Fullerton. I don't remember how close to to the Amtrak station the Desert Express will be but changing trains for a third of the route is a waste. Travelers would be better served by the slower Desert Wind being restored. My guess if the powers really wanted it, it could be running in a week or two. 10 cars 2 engines must be somewhere near by, and I believe would cover 2 times a day in push pull.

LAX- SAN is not to much less than LAX-Vegas would be

You know of course the major stumbling block is UP. It was ready to go a few years ago and was killed by UP.

Aloha

Yes UP is a major issue, but so are the 2 states, and the Federal government at fault, because way to many officials, have lost sight of their duties to represent the people of this country.

If the Victorville service can effectively have a cross-platform transfer from Amtrak, I think you could get something operating in that vein. Likewise, IIRC BNSF (which handles the Victorville-Los Angeles line) would likely be more open to cooperation...so depending on the rolling stock, could something be run through Victorville to LAX with an engine change?

Edit: Though it was the 1990s, does anybody have any information on ridership on the Desert Wind LAX-Vegas back "in the day" before it was cut?

 

[GG-1]

Edit: Though it was the 1990s, does anybody have any information on ridership on the Desert Wind LAX-Vegas back "in the day" before it was cut?

Aloha

When i used to to go to conventions in Vegas on the DW it was always full. I don't have the true numbers but publicity at the time said there wasn't enough riders. I don't beleive that but can not prove my feelings.

 

[eagle628]

If the Victorville service can effectively have a cross-platform transfer from Amtrak, I think you could get something operating in that vein. Likewise, IIRC BNSF (which handles the Victorville-Los Angeles line) would likely be more open to cooperation...so depending on the rolling stock, could something be run through Victorville to LAX with an engine change?

Improbable. A look at maps shows that the existing Amtrak station is located about a mile away, and across a river, from the proposed Victorville terminal (which I found in http://www.docstoc.com/docs/40677182/APPENDIX-E-TRAFFIC-IMPACTS-ANALYSIS), with no rail lines beyond the BNSF one in the vicinity. You'd have to build a new connection through what is probably strip mall suburbia, or alternately plow the Desert Xpress station and trackage into the existing Amtrak station, which looks to be located in the north part of downtown. The Desert Xpress site is well north of downtown, presumably to be close to the interstate and avoid mucking about with fitting a large station and associated infrastructure into an area of denser buildings.

 

[USrail21]

I want the maglev from Anaheim to LV. Desert xpress is an ultimate fail.

 

[Anderson]

If the Victorville service can effectively have a cross-platform transfer from Amtrak, I think you could get something operating in that vein. Likewise, IIRC BNSF (which handles the Victorville-Los Angeles line) would likely be more open to cooperation...so depending on the rolling stock, could something be run through Victorville to LAX with an engine change?

Improbable. A look at maps shows that the existing Amtrak station is located about a mile away, and across a river, from the proposed Victorville terminal (which I found in http://www.docstoc.c...MPACTS-ANALYSIS), with no rail lines beyond the BNSF one in the vicinity. You'd have to build a new connection through what is probably strip mall suburbia, or alternately plow the Desert Xpress station and trackage into the existing Amtrak station, which looks to be located in the north part of downtown. The Desert Xpress site is well north of downtown, presumably to be close to the interstate and avoid mucking about with fitting a large station and associated infrastructure into an area of denser buildings.

That's a shame, but I get that it's not going to work because of those limitations. Honestly, I didn't know where the actual Victorville station is located (having been asleep the one time my train went through there, and having been burning up the miles on the highway when I drove through the area).

I don't think the Maglev is a doable proposition, but I think the Desert Xpress is going to lose a lot of business without at least a cross-platform link to the LA Metro area. I'm not saying it might not turn an operating profit, but I just don't see it doing what it ought to without that link...a lot of folks are just going to stay on the highway if they're already halfway to Vegas.