Texas Transit Association

A high-speed train from Las Vegas to Anaheim would reduce airport congestion enough to warrant billions of dollars in private investment and federal aid, the chairman of the House Transportation Committee said Monday.The magnetic levitation system proposed by the California Nevada Super Speed Train Commission is expensive, Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, acknowledged during a briefing at the Ontario Convention Center. But it could help solve growing congestion of Southern
California airports and roads, he said.

Source: Press Interprise (Riverside, CA) April 15, 2003, Tuesday

“I’m a big supporter of Maglev,” Young told commissioners and
representatives of American Magline Group, which is a partner
with the commission in building the 269-mile line. “I’m a
supporter of the California-Nevada line. . . . . I don’t see how
you can solve congestion in this area without maglev and other
freeways.”

Maglev is short for magnetic levitation, a technology that uses
powerful magnets to hold trains off the track and propel them at
speeds of up to 200 to 300 mph.

No maglev system operates commercially in the world, but a test
track has been operating in Emsland, Germany, for more than a
decade. A $ 1.2 billion, 20-mile route connecting the airport in
Shanghai, China, with the downtown district had its first test
run last year and is expected to open this summer.

The route the California-Nevada commission proposes would follow
Interstate 15 and carry passengers between airports in Anaheim,
Ontario, Victorville, Barstow, Primm, Nev., and Las Vegas.

Average trip time from Las Vegas to Anaheim would range from 86
minutes to 96 minutes at speeds of up to 187 mph. One-way fares
between Las Vegas and Barstow would be about $ 50; fares for the
entire route are not yet estimated.

Supporters say maglev technology is cleaner, quieter and takes
up less space than traditional high-speed rail systems. But it
costs two to three times more to build than high-speed rail.

Construction of the Las Vegas-to-Anaheim route would exceed $ 10
billion, maglev analysts have said.

“The time to do this is now,” while freeway rights of way
through the desert remain largely undeveloped, said Neil
Cummings, president of American Magline Group.

The company hopes to receive $ 1 billion in federal funding to
start the project, he said. Additional funding would come from
the sale of revenue bonds.

Ontario Councilman Alan Wapner said his city plans to include a
maglev station when it builds a third terminal at Ontario
International Airport.

“We see Ontario as becoming the hub for high-speed rail in
Southern California,” he told Young.

The Southern California Association of Governments is planning a
92-mile magnetic-levitation train from March Air Reserve Base to
Los Angeles. The association is the regional planning agency for
San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange, Los Angeles, Ventura and
Imperial counties.