Not to be left out of the hype over high speed trains zipping us to San Francisco and back, the LA Times looks at the proposed zoom-zoom train connecting us to Las Vegas via, err, umm, Victorville? Perhaps someone should just shred their money rather than waste it on this stinker. Via the Times:
"... a private group proposing a Victorville-to-Las Vegas train has been gaining some credibility with transportation officials in California and Las Vegas. "There's still work to be done," said William A. Mosby, a district deputy director for planning and public transportation with the California Department of Transportation. "But Caltrans thinks it's a very realistic proposal. It doesn't look like it's pie-in-the-sky thinking at all. If any of the projects move forward, I think it will be this one."
And what, you say, is the alternative? Why a Maglev (!!) of course. Studies and dollars have been thrown into the grim black hole of the idea to connect Anaheim to Las Vegas via magnetically cushioned trains traveling at 325 mph but it's still being studied. The more realistic Victorville connection would cost $3 billion of private funds, and would utilize "electric-diesel hybrid trains" to zoom us to Vegas at a staggering 125 mph. We'll be sold once they come out with a YouTube video, until then, we'll be having none of this nonsense clouding our beautiful minds.
· Victorville–Las Vegas high-speed train plan gains steam [LA Times]
· DesertXpress Web site [DesertXpress.com]