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Wow, I though Xpress West had gone the way of the dodo. As far back as 2010 - if not before - they were touting a groundbreaking ceremony "within a year". Five years later it's changed to... "within a year".
Nevertheless, this is actually quite promising. International interests and investments actually mean something rather than "yet another private company" striving to compete against the well-paid government.
The curious thing - since this is far from the Chinese' first overseas incestment in rail - is how they would actually benefit in any substantial manner. Mostly when the Chinese invest in railways abroad, it's about bringing containers to ports for easy access to China. Somehow I don't think there is much in the way of container traffic from Vegas to LA, if I-15 and the adjacent UP rail line is anything to go by.
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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This story is also reported by major business news outlets such as Associated Press, Bloomberg, and the Wall Street Journal, so I will consider the story as confirmed.
But lest we forget, a press release and an operating HSR system are two distinct things.
yukon11 Member # 2997
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I also have to ask how all of this will benefit China. Also, there seems to be a discrepancy regarding route; China says LA to Las Vegas. Xpress West says Victorville to Las Vegas.
Another question is what stops will there be, along the way. The ultimate cost is said to be around $7 billion. I would guess many of the passengers will be younger men and women, who probably won't be able to afford the trip if the ticket price is exorbitant. You can fly from LA to Vegas for a little as $80.00. I wonder if Las Vegas will help in the funding considering they will benefit from the influx.
Richard
Geoff Mayo Member # 153
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quote:Originally posted by yukon11: Also, there seems to be a discrepancy regarding route; China says LA to Las Vegas. Xpress West says Victorville to Las Vegas.
Earlier plans had VRV to Vegas with a future extension "down the hill" to LA. Maybe this is still the case. The "hill" (the famous Cajon Pass) is a choke point on I-15, especially for the last year or two and for nearly another year yet - despite having up to five lanes in each direction, with major road works causing no end of headaches and 5-10 accidents per week. Threading another pair of rail tracks would be feasible though expensive and would not be high speed at all, 50-60mph at best. Threading through the suburbs of LA to Union Station or nearby will be extremely challenging.
quote:Originally posted by yukon11: Another question is what stops will there be, along the way.
I wouldn't have expected any - though if Victorville is initially a terminus then maybe it would be retained as a boarding station. The only sizeable populations along the way are Victorville (2.5h from Vegas by road), Barstow (2h), Baker (1.5h), and Primm (45min). Baker is small but serves as a rest stop for those on I-15 which obviously wouldn't apply to trains. Primm is a "last gasp" gambling town in Nevada, right on the state line boundary with California.
They say it will take 80 min and $89. The train will travel from Palmdale to Victorville to Las Vegas, with service "throughout LA" (I assume other connecting services(?).
If they run the line over to Palmdale maybe they can also run a line to the Bay Area and Sacramento. It might be cheaper than Calif. HSR.
Richard
Geoff Mayo Member # 153
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I think that article is a little confused. It says "Los Angeles residents [...] to Vegas in 80 minutes" and up to 150mph. The road distance from Victorville to Vegas is 187 miles. 150mph gets you 200 miles in 80 minutes. To get to the nearest border of LA County is another 65 miles, with downtown LA a further 30 miles. Victorville people are not LA residents! We allow about 2 hours to drive to downtown LA - though not in rush hour.
Palmdale to Union Station LA is a 2-hour journey on Metrolink with up to 9 trains a day.
Either way, that's a good 3.5 hours by train, or road and train to Vegas. Marginally better than 4 hours of driving, off-peak, but definitely better than 5 hours on a "good" Friday evening.
notelvis Member # 3071
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My ears are starting to glaze over.
I hear "Hi-speed rail, passenger train, Las Vegas, blah, blah, blah-blah, blaaaah........" In others words, I'll believe it when (if?) we see it.
It is noteworthy that the Chinese indicate in interest in coming in and doing this when the United States has chosen not to.
PullmanCo Member # 1138
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China has excess industrial capacity. They need buyers for their steel.
BTW, this needs to be double-tracked, or have significant sidings. If it's going to be profitable, it needs to move a lot of pax. If I were doing it, I'd have 4 sixty seat coaches supported by a lounge car, then 4 more sixty seat coaches supported by same, in a Friday/Sat/Sun/Mon consist, and singletons of 4 coaches/lounge T/W/Th.
I'd also make arrangements to stop at McCarran, on the Strip, and downtown.
The object of the exercise (to be profitable) is to take load away from the airlines serving McCarran, as well as I-15. If the train cannot do that, it will fail.
Southwest alone has 35 flights per day from LA airports. Given a low capacity of 135 seats per plane, that's 4725 seats daily. The 240 seat config I mention above would need 20 turns a day (4800 seats), the 480 seat config 10 turns a day.
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