Las Vegas Sun Newstransportation:
A high-speed train would help Palmdale grow and benefit Las Vegas
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An artist’s rendering of a train on the XpressWest high-speed rail line, formerly DesertXpress.
Saturday
9 February 2013
2 a.m.
James Ledford, mayor of Palmdale, Calif.
The city of Palmdale, Calif., recently hosted a diversity summit where Las Vegas business owners brainstormed strategies to win contracts for building XpressWest, the proposed high-speed train to Southern California.
XpressWest initially was slated to run only between Las Vegas and Victorville, Calif., but agreements reached last year extended it 50 miles west to Palmdale. Palmdale is part of the California High-Speed Rail line and is a key connection point for carrying people between Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
Palmdale Mayor James Ledford recently sat down with VEGAS INC to talk about what XpressWest means both to his city and to Las Vegas:
What puts Palmdale on the map?
This is where the growth is coming. In the mid-'90s, we were the fourth-fastest growing region in America.
This is a perfect connection for the train systems because of the gradual elevation out of Los Angeles. It makes us a great portal for both the California High-Speed Rail System and XpressWest, and we’ll have a station for both of them.
The California High-Speed Rail system will connect with Northern California, right?
That’s correct, and that wasn’t by accident. We’ve been involved in high-speed rail ever since the very beginning, with the first California High-Speed Rail Commission. We were there and told them what our intention was, and we worked to make that happen.
What makes Palmdale particularly advantageous is the West Los Angeles ridership. I think every train that has ever been proposed wants that as part of their finance plan.
What was your reaction when you first heard about XpressWest’s plan to link Victorville with Palmdale?
I thought it was a natural. And, again, it’s that West L.A. market they’re coming after.
We were already working on our High Desert Corridor, the first east-west freeway in the Antelope Valley which would have a right-of-way capability for this train. So the timing is good and the coordination with our other regional transportation is going to make this a really natural fit for us.
Is there excitement in Palmdale about having a train that could take people to Las Vegas in 2½ hours?
You have no idea what that means. But it goes both ways. Those folks can come into the Los Angeles Basin area in the same time. The goal for us is a single-seat ride from downtown Los Angeles' Union Station to Las Vegas.
So we are promoting our alignment and station design to make it intermodal and very accessible. You combine that with our airport plans and other regional transportation focuses that we’ve developed in support of this project, and we’re well-positioned to be part of a new frontier for intermodal connectivity unlike anything else in the state or in America.
I’m sure our resort community is interested in how many people live in the Palmdale area.
Palmdale is about 155,000. But the general area is about half a million. We’re slated to move pretty quickly as growth continues.
In the L.A. basin, there aren’t a lot of opportunities for growth. Up here, there are. We’re a pro-growth region, and we want an airport and a high-speed train. We want the elements that will bring a greater quality of life to our residents.
Do you think there will come a time when Las Vegans will be able to take a high-speed train to San Francisco via Palmdale?
You’re right on the money there. San Francisco to Vegas is very attractive. Vegas to the L.A. basin, Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm, the beaches.
It really does reinforce the elements in the greater Los Angeles area that are very attractive for visitors and tourism. The train is going to give us another opportunity to bring people and be hosts.
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Simple maths: A train from Vegas to Nowhere (a.k.a Palmdale) is waste of money, on an epical scale. A train from Vegas to LA Union Station, which takes about 2 hours and is priced at 50$ is a total winner, a phenomenal project and true breakthrough! So if you wanna do it, then DO IT RIGHT!!!
Just what we need. A 100 billion dollar project to take people from Vegas and dump them in the desert 50 miles from Los Angeles. And it will take longer and cost more than driving. As someone who commutes regularly from LA to Vegas, I will ride this thing when hell freezes over. I guess a "diversity conference" means a place where all kinds of crazy people share their ideas.
Its a great concept but the costs do not justify - If this project was 50% less than predicted, I would say maybe.
The basic problems remain... SW Airlines $45 airfare
Not having a car in LV is a pain...
Driving to Victorville or Palmdale YOU might as well drive all the way/
The only train system I can support is along the lines of TGV, Maglev or Bullet...high speed. 200+ mph, big city to big city. If you're going to do it and invest big money, do it right.
Palmdale is the armpit of LA County.
The welfare recipients and general lower socio-economic residents who live there are not going to be able to afford a train to Las Vegas.
This extension from Union Station to Palmdale and then over to Victorville is the brain fart of the LA County Commissioner for that area.
Who in their right mind is going to travel from Union Station to Palmdale to Victorville to Vegas?
It will be total failure! TSA will get involved and you'll have to arrive 2hours early and be subjected to search and seizure by TSA goons, then they will charge you 3 times what it would cost to drive, and take he same time, but when you get off the train you won't have a car and be forced to rent one, or pay the outrageous taxi rates every time you want to go some place, it'll be in bankruptcy within a year of completion just like the Vegas monorail !
Harry must have gotten a lot of money for this boondoggle. It makes no sense whatsoever, yet this Sun continues to talk about it like it has any rational reason to get built. Billions of tax dollars will be wasted, fat cats will get fatter, and no one will use it once it opens. Brilliant!
If it was up to repubs we'd still be using the horse and buggy. Oh well, they're mostly old fa*ts who will be taking their next trip in a bye bye box.
Palmdale? Huh? It's out in the middle of nowhere. Way too far removed from L.A. to make any sense whatsoever.
The roundtrip fare on Greyhound between LA and Las Vegas is $56. Can any train compete with that? Greyhound made some changes to their schedules and now it's easier than ever to go to Vegas. The bus station on Alameda street has Wi-Fi and you can get your tickets online.
What I believe is that there needs to be a better solution. A new and advanced technology such as Et3 to connect Las Vegas to La and San Frans; instead of this old Hi speed train technology. There needs to be a better rental car solutions for Et3 Users as well.
high speed rail is absolutely necessary if the US is going to catch up to the rest of the developed world.
Our infrastructure is almost 20 years behind other developed countries.
We need to stop making totally useless weapons and start making a better US.
If you think that no taxpayer money should go to build rail, do you thing that no taxpayer money should go to build freeways?
Fedex, UPS, trucking companies, bus companies, taxicabs, etc. all make money by using them, but the profit they earned hasn't paid for the capital costs of our freeways either.
Rail is infrastructure, just like roads. We should use taxpayer money to build high speed rail. Then we can let the private companies use it to compete, and earn profit from it. Just like we do with roads.
What a bunch of short sighted people.
You think gasoline is always going to be as cheap as it is now, if widely available?
You think everyone in So Cal wants to go through all the hassles of airline travel as their only other option to driving?
You think there is more affordable room to grow in So Cal except to the east, northeast, or southeast?
People already live in Palmdale and commute for hours to jobs in the "big cities". It would be much faster and cheaper for commutes with an adequate high speed rail system that offers annual commuter options.
On a high speed commuter basis, it might even be more practical in the future for some Las Vegans to deal with going to the office for a couple of days in So. Cal. or No, Cal.
Then there are the tourists coming here. No stress and no worries about speeding tickets or accidents. They just travel between casino hotels by foot, taxi, monorail, family living here, bus, or other creative means offered. What we offer them is up to us. Most will not be interested in traveling outside the Strip, or may do so on another trip by auto.
Future plans include routes to Salt Lake City and Denver, as well as Phoenix. It is all part of the Southwest Network.
Such a network has to begin somewhere and lasts generations. People adjust to a new way of life in transportation, just like we adjusted from covered wagons, stagecoaches, steam engine trains, horse and buggy and the model T's, propeller airplanes to jets. It is called progress, folks. It benefits more people than who currently populate our cities and towns.
Palmdalers commute to LA, not to Vegas. Of Course High Speed Trains make sense to California but they only make sense to Nevada, if TOURISTS ride it! And international tourists always arrive at LAX, not McCarran, so even a taxi ride from McCarran to Union Station would be a hassle, however tourists often stay in LA for a few days an then might continue to travel to Vegas, by train, if it is cheap and fast. Maglev tracks are very expensive, however "regular" high speed trains are fast enough! The French TGV, the German ICE and the Japanese Shinkansen have cruise speeds (!!!) above 200 mph, and a 2-hour-ride is "doable"! Get the infrastructure financed on a very long term (50 years) and make the tickets affordable, and you have a winner. But again, only if the Connection Union-Station to Strip is established! No european high speed rail ends in the middle of nowhere!
Thank god we have all these high speed rail experts on here to point out all the negatives..
Oh wait..
Should we fade out the negatives?
How many residents of LV would take the train to spend a nice weekend in Victorville or Palmdale? Almost none. How many residents of LV would take the train to spend a nice weekend in Santa Monica or Malibu? Definitely much more! If you are going to spend that much money, then it should be clear, that many people benefit, not just the people of those two villages Victorville and Palmdale ... oh wait, i am not a high speed rail expert, i'm not allowed to use common sense and tell the obvious ...
@Elvegas: Common sense is not putting a metal knife in the toaster. You're making what's called an accusation without any solid proof. Have you conducted studies? Done conclusive research that supports your claim? If not, then I don't quite understand how you can clam that no one will use the train.
I'm not saying that no one will use the train. Some people will. People living in Palmdale and Victorville. That is a total population of about 600k. For them, the ride will be VERY convenient, as long as the price is right. Will a couple spend 100$ each for the round trip? Probably. Will a couple spend 200$ each for the round trip? Defenitly not, as long as the gas for their car is just 50$. Will a family of 5 spend 500$ or 1000$ for the round trip? Definitly NOT. So you are only targeting business travelers , single tourists and couples, narrowing further your 600k potential customers. BUT If the train goes to Union Station, you will offer an alternative for the car AND the plane for 12 million customers, but again, you have to compete with airline tickets and gas prices, so no more than 100$ for the round trip! These are BASIC figures, on which you can run statistic, but if your basic numbers are totally wrong (train stats nowhere,covering only 50% of the route to Vegas, 200$ single ride fare), there is no more need for studies. It is like suggesting to sell a cone of ice cream for 50$, but only with garlic flavor. No one would do a market study on that!
Again, to make it clear, I LOVE HSR and have ridden them many times in Europe and Asia, and I even would love to see a LV Monorail operating between all Strip hotels , McCarran and a future HSR Station to LA, offering a complete "car-less" transportation option for all residents and visitors of this city. But in order to achieve this, mistakes in planning must be disclosed and corrected early as possible on such a big and important project!