Desert Xpress

Desert Xpress is a proposal to build a privately funded passenger train from Victorville, California, to Las Vegas, Nevada, using off-the-shelf high speed rail technology.

The proposal was initiated to provide an alternative to automobile travel between the Los Angeles area to Las Vegas along Interstate Highway 15. This highway, the most direct automobile route between the Los Angeles area and Las Vegas, is frequently snarled with traffic, especially on weekends, with a trip sometimes taking as long as eight hours.Fact|date=March 2007 Currently, there is no passenger train service to Las Vegas. Amtrak last operated passenger train service to Las Vegas in 1997 on its "Desert Wind" route.

The city of Victorville was selected as the location for the west most terminal since it is within a one-hour drive of 12 million people, and extending the train line farther into the Los Angeles basin through the Cajon Pass would most likely be prohibitively expensive. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |author= |coauthors= |title= KVBC Las Vegas Story|url=http://www.kvbc.com/Global/story.asp?S=5167300 |format= |work= |publisher=KVBC Television. Las Vegas, Nevada |id= |pages= |page= |date= 2006-07-25 |accessdate= 2007-04-02|language= |quote= ] Victorville is about 40 miles (65km) from Riverside, where a station is proposed for the California high-speed rail line.

The train would travel up to 125 miles per hour and would make the 190-mile trip from Victorville to Las Vegas in about one hour 45 minutes, shaving over two hours off the travel time.cite web| url=http://www.desertxpress.com/technology.php| title=Proven, Reliable, Safe Technology| work=DesertXpress| year=2008| accessdate=2008-08-08| ] The backers of the project are currently in the process of raising funds for its construction, estimated at $3 Billion.

References

* [http://www.inlandenergy.com/Desert%20Express.html Victorville, California, signs memorandum of understanding with Desert Xpress company]
* [http://www.fra.dot.gov/downloads/rrdev/desert_express_mailer_08_c.pdf Federal Railroad Administration flyer regarding Desert Xpress scoping meetings]

ee also

*California high-speed rail, a proposed high speed rail from San Diego, California to San Francisco, California and Sacramento, California
*California-Nevada Interstate Maglev, a proposed maglev from Anaheim, California to Las Vegas, Nevada.

External links

* [http://desertxpress.com Desert Xpress]