Las Vegas Sun NewsHigh-speed rail not just for tourists
At summit, expert makes the case for Las Vegas as an international business hub
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17 December 2012
1:55 a.m.
Richard N. Velotta
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Don’t look now, but our business community is going to grow exponentially overnight in a few years.
Dr. Robert Lang, of Brookings Mountain West at UNLV, made the case last week that as soon as the XpressWest high-speed rail line is operational, millions of Inland Empire business people will have better access to McCarran International Airport than to Los Angeles International.
And the Inland Empire is bigger than Phoenix.
Lang and I were speakers last week at the Victorville High Speed Train Diversity Summit, sponsored by the Veterans Southwest Industries, California Black Chamber of Commerce and Black Business Council of Nevada.
I shared some of the nearly 40-year history of the struggle to develop high-speed rail between Southern California and Southern Nevada, through airline deregulation, the magnetic-levitation years and the political deals that derailed maglev. Lang talked about the economic opportunities that will lie ahead once the first train pulls out of the station.
Most of us have seen the train as a tourist conveyance. But in the bigger picture, Lang views packaging the train with McCarran as a vehicle for California businesses to go global.
While I see XpressWest’s agreement with the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority as a game-changer because it will get tourists from downtown L.A. to Las Vegas through Palmdale, Calif., Lang thinks the Victorville endpoint can stand on its own for the same reason XpressWest executive Anthony Marnell thinks it will work — because most of the customers will come from the Inland Empire, not Los Angeles or Orange County.
“The minute that rail is completed, this place is closer to Las Vegas than it is to the west side of Los Angeles,” Lang told the group.
“This is the most isolated part of Southern California from the key assets on the west side that have global connections,” he said. “But you are now the most privileged point in Southern California to the alternative way in and out of this southwest complex of Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Phoenix, and you’re going to the fastest growing internationally connected airport in the United States.”
Gov. Brian Sandoval has made it clear that one of the pathways to economic diversification is developing international markets, and McCarran now has nonstop flights to 25 international destinations.
Lang also downplays the importance of tourists needing a car when they come to Las Vegas. He complimented the city’s taxi industry and added that it’s better for people to be driven around to avoid navigating the city after drinking too much.
We both applauded the contractors for organizing well ahead of XpressWest’s startup timeline. Company officials told me it was too early to begin talking about development deals. They also don’t want to appear overconfident about getting a loan through the Federal Railway Administration — a loan that is crucial to the success of the project.
Possibly the only down side to the event was the turnout. About 50 people were there. Organizers had hoped for 400.
They are now considering future summits in Palmdale and Las Vegas.
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"...millions of Inland Empire business people will have better access to McCarran International Airport..."
OMG, this is nuts. A useless statistic with no practical meaning.
"...Lang also downplays the importance of tourists needing a car when they come to Las Vegas..."
OMG, this is nuts. I don't know what Lang's agenda is, but there has to be an ulterior motive. Those who drive from California (or elsewhere nearby) to LV are driving because they want the freedom of movement which their car provides. It's convenient for them. They're NOT going to take a train.
The same people that said the monorail would be successful are the same one's saying the high speed train to nowhere will be successful. As a former resident from LA, I know that very few people will take the MetroLink train to Victorville to board the Xpress West train. It is easier to drive or catch a quick flight out of Burbank Airport.
There is a major flaw in the argument for the Inland Empire businesses and residents being the savior of the train. The majority of the residents and businesses of the Inland Empire are on the other side of the San Bernadino mountains. One would still need to travel up the I15 over the pass to Victorville. It would be easier to just keep going up the freeway at this point rather than stop for the train.
A high speed train to SoCal could be very successful if done right.
I am a rail enthusiast. This project is DOA. The High Speed Rail being built through Palmdale is looks bleak due to California's budget issues.
Now comes this laughable idea that the business community is going to drive to Victorville and jump on a train to Vegas then catch a cab to Mccarran Airport? So they would do this instead on parking at ONT airport and catch a connecting flight? or go to LAX something they already familiar with?
What Inland Empire businesses? There mostly factories and many other workers commute inside the LA Basin for work.
Grasping at straws. This ridiculous reasoning baffles me. The West Coast continues to bungle up Mass Transit decisions.
Lol thank god Joan Respondi and chucky are here. These experts know everything.
Joan: I like how you can predict peoples travel habits before the infastructure is even in place and avaliable. Can you use your powers to look into the future and find the cure for cancer?
Chucky: You're clearly even less informed. There is no Metrolink train from LA to Victorville.
Everyone becomes an expert on anything they want to. Welcome to Obamas America.
If you did your research Andrew you would know that there has been talk about connecting XpressWest to the MetroLink station in Palmdale. One plan is to use the MetroLink system to LA until the planned California High Speed train is built. There has been talks to possibly expand MetroLink to Victorville or build an extension of the DesertXpress.
The ridership numbers of XpressWest cannot be trusted since two of the monorail consultants, URS Corp. and Wilbur Smith Associates, have also helped formulate DesertXpress (XpressWest) numbers. We all know how accurate they were with their monorail numbers.
Who holds the land rights between Nevada and California?
If Harry Reid doesn't financially benefit from this in some way I'll eat a railroad tie. He makes some amazingly "lucky" investments.
this is the dumbest idea since the monorail behind the casinos where no one wants to go! the first part of the monorail should have been right down the strip, and the second part from the airport to the strip.
now the same "experts" are insisting this train will have a bunch of passengers when all of us common folk know no one is gonna use it and the price will certainly be way too high for us to want to use it. I see bus tickets right now being sold under $50 for people who don't want to drive....and it didn't cost 100's of millions to do it!
With being able to fly out of Ontario, why would people in the inland empire want to ride a train to vegas to use mccarran?
See the planned network...
http://www.xpresswest.com/network.html
I've been waiting forever for this, since I lived in CA and then NV. I loved taking the train from So CA to LV when one was running.
It is time to act. We need a great rail system in the US, in all regions.
By the time gasoline is prohibitively high, the rail system could provide the transportation we need. Today's young people may be very happy to have this network for business and pleasure.
My only question is could it handle shipping as well?
Well, we've heard about this forever! It is a go or a no? If a go, when will construction begin and where will the Las Vegas station be located? Every year we hear that it will break ground by the the end of the year! What's the real deal?