Las Vegas Sun NewsLas Vegas-California $5.5 billion train loan gets endorsement
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27 July 2012
2:11 p.m.
The Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority is endorsing XPressWest’s $5.5 billion loan application to build a high-speed train between Las Vegas and Victorville, Calif., a key piece in the bid to link Southern Nevada with Los Angeles.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich, recently appointed to head the MTA board, drafted the resolution that won unanimous approval from the board that oversees Metrolink commuter trains in Southern California.
The MTA board and XPressWest — formerly known as DesertXpress — announced in June that they had reached agreement to share resources to develop a seamless train operation between Las Vegas and Los Angeles using Metrolink tracks between Palmdale, Calif., and Los Angeles.
Part of the agreement includes working to link Victorville, the southern end point of the XPressWest line, with Palmdale. XPressWest has applied for a Federal Railroad Administration loan through its Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing program.
“As part of our effort to develop a regional transportation system, the potential to link XpressWest to Palmdale and the entire Metrolink system creates enhanced opportunities for expanded mobility in Los Angeles County and throughout Southern California,” Antonovich said in a release announcing passage of the resolution.
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If the proceeds are disbursed, that's 6 bil down the crapper. Thanx to pie in the sky fools.
Why not just walk over to a toilet and flush away a dollar bill 6,000,000,000 times? It's the same thing.
This is nothing more than crony capitalism designed to pay back the campaign contributors and unions.
boondogle
This is funny,The Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority is endorsing, but not coughing up, the $6 million.
Why did DeserXexpress change its name to Xpresswest??? This will be another albatross that the taxpayers, their children will be paying for the rest of their lives, while people like Harry Reid and his family collected millions from the deal and live comfortably. The outcome of high speed rail in this country will have the same results of the monorail system built in this city.
So you travel for an hour and a half to Victorville, an incredible dump, then take a right turn, and head to Lancaster for 45 minutes, another dump, and then take the 25 mph Metrolink train down into the LA Basin for 1-1/2 more hours? I don't think so. Cheaper to rent a limo. And a lot faster...What a joke..
Glad to see y'all took the time TO READ THE ARTICLE before commenting...
Get 'er done!!!
Are any of these high speed trains worldwide actually profitable on any level? I'm reading about massive govt. subsidies that keep most of these high speed trains running.
Are we dealing with a project that is so costly that it will never be a profitable venture but rather a people mover like a highway.
As usual, the dittoheads' knee-jerk reactions are the first to appear in opposition to progress. Besides the impossible-to-ignore environmental benefits of eliminating all of those cars from the freeway, the naysayers remain ignorant or callous to studies showing that 1,069 people have died in 834 accidents on the I-15 between LA and Las Vegas during the last fifteen years, making this America's deadliest road.
D. Lucente
Las Vegas
Oh how wonderful for this project!!! It will be as successful as Las Vegas' monorail system.
As usual, the dittoheads' knee-jerk reactions are the first to appear in opposition to progress. Besides the impossible-to-ignore environmental benefits of eliminating all of those cars from the freeway, the naysayers remain ignorant or callous to studies showing that 1,069 people have died in 834 accidents on the I-15 between LA and Las Vegas during the last fifteen years, making this America's deadliest road.
With all the Right Wingers Opposed to Any type of Government Infastructure Construction (Built by Private Contractors) just let I-15 go back to Dirt and let them ride their Tractor. Too bad they never leave their block and see what the rest of the world is doing to leave us in the dust.
It will become known as the White Elephant Xpress...
Hey, Lambert, they will be selling shares in the venture. How many will you be buying? As for the MTA. Those pencil-pushing bureaucratic drones have a vested interest in it being funded and built. That will increase their fiefdom, just as all pencil-pushing bureaucratic drones push for. If the train is so worthwhile, let guys like Lambert fork up the funds to build it but not one red cent of taxpayer money should go towards it.
I don't see this as a right/left wing issue at all, just a foolish impractical one. Do they really think that people will drive an hour and a half to get to the train station, leave their cars, and then take the train to Vegas and not have a car? Where are the studies that show that anyone (other than those living in Victorville) will use it? That's an awful lot of money to spend on a train that not many will use.
I visit LV about 8 times a year. I don't fly because it takes to long if you figure the waiting times and TSA. I for sure wouldn't use this useless train. Makes a lot of sense for me to drive 110 miles to Vitorville, get on a train, with mostly "green people" have to rent a car, then be at the mercy of when the train runs to get back home. It would cost me a lot more than driving directly to Vegas. It takes me about 4.5 hours now. I live 399 miles to the casino I stay at. This is a joke and being endorsed by LA is a farse. Don't forget Calif. is the State that is almost BK and agreed to spend billions on a bullet train that goes nowhere. That should tell you that this is all a scam.
XpressWest's executives must be giddy beyond belief...they have just hooked into career 7 figure income's courtesy of the deep pocketed TAXPAYER's.
Building this train is so beyond stupid the only accurate description is CRIMINAL.
Every politician involved and any party that approved this idiocy should be charged under RICO laws.
If you aren't going to live long enough to enjoy it, I can understand the lack of vision. ;-)
This project will do wonders for business as well, just like the freight lines and the freeway system. I am amazed at how pessimistic some of the readers of these blogs are. We ought to start working together toward a common goal instead of shooting fire from our eyes at each other all of the time.