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FarCenter

(19,429 posts)
Sun Mar 25, 2012, 09:13 PM Mar 2012

Now Obama Wants To Build A $5 Billion Bullet Train From Las Vegas To Nowhere [View all]

VICTORVILLE, Calif. (AP) -- On a dusty, rock-strewn expanse at the edge of the Mojave Desert, a company linked to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid wants to build a bullet train that would rocket tourists from the middle of nowhere to the gambling palaces of Las Vegas.

Privately held DesertXpress is on the verge of landing a $4.9 billion loan from the Obama administration to build the 150 mph train, which could be a lifeline for a region devastated by the housing crash or a crap shoot for taxpayers weary of Washington spending.

The vast park-and-ride project hinges on the untested idea that car-loving Californians will drive about 100 miles from the Los Angeles area, pull off busy Interstate 15 and board a train for the final leg to the famous Strip.

Planners imagine that millions of travelers a year will one day flock to a station outside down-on-its-luck Victorville, a small city where shuttered storefronts pock the historic downtown.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/bullet-train-from-las-vegas-to-nowhere-2012-3

It would be less expensive and create more jobs if they opened some casinos in LA.

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Why wouldn't they just make the train go all the way to LA? /nt Drale Mar 2012 #1
My guess is because of the Cajon Pass. cherokeeprogressive Mar 2012 #5
150 mph trains require special railways and complete grade separation from streets and highways FarCenter Mar 2012 #6
A mountain range. nt Codeine Mar 2012 #29
I doubt this will fly.......... TheCowsCameHome Mar 2012 #2
I hope not! izquierdista Mar 2012 #4
Nice! Codeine Mar 2012 #30
"Planning" high speed rail on behalf of governments is quite the cottage industry OmahaBlueDog Mar 2012 #3
150MPH? anti-alec Mar 2012 #7
We need high speed rail... lib2DaBone Mar 2012 #8
High speed rail is roughly as energy efficient as airplanes FarCenter Mar 2012 #11
High-speed rail will make the switch to fuel other than oil more JDPriestly Mar 2012 #15
I don't know where you got your information from, but Art_from_Ark Mar 2012 #22
Life-cycle assessment of high-speed rail: the case of California FarCenter Mar 2012 #28
Your assessment may be true for a desert bullet train Art_from_Ark Mar 2012 #36
let Las Vegas pay for it all out of its obscene profits from "not rigged" gambling nt msongs Mar 2012 #9
"Planners imagine" obey Mar 2012 #10
Not only that. I heard that some mobster is building a casino in the middle of the desert! Honeycombe8 Mar 2012 #12
LOL! Politicalboi Mar 2012 #17
Not gonna happen. Ikonoklast Mar 2012 #13
We don't need a train to Las Vegas. We need a train from LA to San Francisco, one JDPriestly Mar 2012 #14
I live in LA and I'll most likely never hear the end of thr '"Disneyland - Vegas train" jokes. Initech Mar 2012 #16
Yeah I thought that too Politicalboi Mar 2012 #19
Highway 15 from Victorville to Vegas can be a 150+ mile long traffic jam. denbot Mar 2012 #26
There were two plans for high-speed rail... ljm2002 Mar 2012 #18
If I've driven 100 miles from Santa Monica to Victorville... KeepItReal Mar 2012 #20
As a Californian, no mag lev, NO DEAL! Firebrand Gary Mar 2012 #21
That is one of the stupidest ideas I have ever heard. Nye Bevan Mar 2012 #23
I dunno, works elsewhere including CT and NYC. Chan790 Mar 2012 #24
Commuter rail into NYC is not really comparable to this proposal. Nye Bevan Mar 2012 #25
People who live in San Bernadino might use it, there are people that live there too. Raine Mar 2012 #27
we have a lot of people who come from california to las vegas newspeak Mar 2012 #31
Republicans for Reid helped Reid win the election in 2010???!!! dixiegrrrrl Mar 2012 #32
Wow, you managed to bash Obama, Reid, and mass transit in one post while FSogol Mar 2012 #33
They've been blathering on about this for 20 years LadyHawkAZ Mar 2012 #34
This is nothing new... Javaman Mar 2012 #35
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