There's already track (freight) connecting LA to Los Vegas. This route skips Victorville. Upgrade the existing freight rail with a 1st rate track for each direction of travel. The peak speed can reach 100mph with few stops between the LA area and Vegas. The cost of upgrade can be shared with the freight system and will certainly be much less than the standalone proposed system.
Anaheim to Victorville on HSR? Well, let's see...you'd have to somehow make it through the Santa Ana Canyon, pound the diamonds at Colton, creep through Berdoo yard, snake along until Sullivan's Curve, battle with a 2.4% grade up to Cajon Summit, and clatter across the Frost Flyover, all while fighting for trackage rights with 50-MPH Burlington Northern Santa Fe trains.
...
Route 'er through Saugus and Fullerton. Lots of underused rights-of-way there. Best part is CAHSR could use it as well.
in europe is good high speed train from Amsterdam ( Nederland / the Nethelandse) to Brussel ( Belgie/ Belgium) to Paris/Parijs ( Frankrijk/France) end From Amstersdam ( Nederland/the Nethelands) to Berin/Berlijn ( Duitsland/Deutscheland/Germeny) the maxi high speed of the train is 300 km/h
Driving to vegas from anaheim on a busy weekend can take 12hrs. thanx to traffic and two tanks of gas. Build the train and I'll buy the first ticket. Warning however, Once California has high speed rail The whole nation will want it.
the 3rd HSR project has been establish but being understudy right now, calls the Desert Lightning, the Desert lightning will use the same technology like the Desert Xpress, not only its going to go from middle of L.A. to Vegas, it will be going to Phoenix AZ so people who lives in Arizona could have a choice of going to Vegas or L.A. and beat the heat without getting on a Plane, or sitting on the Bus or in your car on the I10 for 7 hours.
Maglev is great and has been successful in a couple places in the world, but DesertXpress is a better option because it is a privately owned, operated, and funded company. Until companies such as TransRapid can figure out how to build Maglev systems at a lower cost, conventional High Speed Rail is the best answer.
I reciently heard that they would be launching a 3rd passenger train service calls the Vegas X train, which I never heard before, pariently it won't be a high speed train but they said that they would start their service next year, they will travel on the existing railroad from L.A. Union station to Vegas, traveling 80 MPH they will have bi level cars with video slot machine, bars, gabling tables and will take 5 1/2 hours trip well good luck X train
@sideslide23 I heard about it too. I went to their website and saw their proposals and interior designs. They're fantastic! But once DesertXpress starts in 2014 they're totally screwed.
This is an example of idiot reporting. Everyone knows that Anaheim is a better location than Victorville. There is no analysis of costs, political issues, or funding.
-----------
You could make one of these stupid videos saying that San Francisco is better than Anaheim.
@frankantoniomartin: With DesertXpress there are no political or funding issues because DesertXpress is a private company that is building their lines with their own money on their own terms. There is no taxpayer cash being used to build or subsidize this line.
Maglev From Las Vegas to LA/ONT International Airport. Then California High Speed Rail to LA Union Station. The Desert Xpress is a gutter ball. What a terrible idea. I don't think people from the O.C. or I.E. are going to park their BMW's in an overnight desert train station parking lot then take a slow train the rest of the way to Vegas. And they most certainly will not travel to Vegas via Palmdale, they will go up the 15 Freeway...you know the San Diego Freeway as in the San Diego Metro Area.
I live in Vegas & going to California would take me 4 hrs to get from Las Vegas to Los Angeles. The Desert express is not the right option. If they were to pick that train, it would go to a town that really has 0attractions. All Victorville is a small town with homes, buissnesses, & industries. NOTHING FUN THERE. The maglev train going from Las Vegas to Anaheime is the correct choice. This train will connect a city filled with entertainment to another city loaded with fun & entertainment.
the desert xpress is eventually going to be extended to palmdale, and connect to the California high speed rail, so If you want to go to Anaheim, you take the Desert xpress to palmdale and connect with the California high speed and travel to Anaheim. but maybe in another 20 years theyll do the maglev,
when California High speed rail construction start, there going to extend the tracks for the Desert Xpress from victorvill to Palmdale so if your going from Vegas you can make connection with the California HSR and take it to Anaheim and your at Disneyland.
@Trainking922: I would agree. But I think the arrival of the DesertXpress will bring more attractions and services to Victorville. DesertXpress announced a couple weeks ago that construction will begin in March 2011.
@gibb1991 Agreed. It is said that DesertXpress will be useless because there is no connection to LA Union Station. But as soon as DesertXpress starts operations out of Victorville somebody such as Metrolink or a private company will jump on it instantly to provide the connection.
@gibb1991 A Metrolink or other connection is a good point. I would certainly hope so, anyway. I love to travel by train, so I would use the Desert Express. However, if it isn't easy, the GENERAL public won't use it. If only the Desert Express was going to Anaheim !!
@MrMiner49r the Desert Xpress wil eventually be extended to Palmdale whare it will connect to the California high speed rail, so If you coming from vegas, you can either go to San Fransisco or Anaheim,.
@sideslide23 Palmdale - I like it! Any connection to the CA HSR makes sense, and that would be an easy connection for the general public to make (both literally AND figuratively).
The biggest problem that I have is that Japan is budgeting $55 billion for a Maglev less than 180 miles. I think the $12 billion for the 260 mile Vegas to Anaheim rail is a seriously underestimated. Clearly going to Anaheim is better than Victorville, but the shorter option relatively ordinary technology in use in Europe.
= A train to Anaheim that costs $200 each way is less useful than a train to Victorville that costs $50 each way.
Seriously, if you look at REAL cost per mile estimates, the maglev could be in thee range of $30-40 billion, an amount that could be used to build the entire California High-Speed Rail system with a spur to Victorville to connect to the DesertXpress. Maglev: "Bridge to the 22nd century", more like failure of the 20th century.
@frankantoniomartin I agree with your observation. Germany recently cancelled plans for a Transrapid maglev system to be implimented; due to the prices wildly raising to three times their inital estimates as more quotes and evaluations came in. This was said mainly to be down to the civil engineering involved rather than the maglev costs themselves, but they're part and parcel of building the line to begin with. At least with conventional HSR, it is highly profitable (unlike the Chinese Maglev).
With MAGLEV at Shanghai peak speed of 431 km/hr and operational wheel on steel no peaking at 350 km/hr it is not clear if it makes much of a difference in an operational system. There are still advantages to MAGLEV (like urban noise) but they are not longer as clear.
They are so far from the Palmdale extension that they are not even close to setting ticket prices. However, if you want to take the new HST from Union Station to Palmdale and then on to Vegas (with or without transfers), it had better be comparable to plane tickets.
= In the future plane flights may be much more expensive as the SoCal airports hit the point where no more flights can be added (which may not be very long from now).
@frankantoniomartin I understand, I just got the total estiment for passenger to go From Vegas to Anaheim by Desert xpress and CAHSR your lookling at $72 Per Pas eachway, yes $72 is better than $200 each way, $72 include DE from Vegas to PalmDale and CASHR connection to Anaheim
Many cities and countries have advocacy groups for MAGLEV. The group in the UK is known as "500kmh com" that want to see MAGLEV used for domestic transport instead of conventional rail. The Shanghai MAGLEV was heavily subsidized, and a very expensive advertisement to try and procure the contract for the Beijing to Shanghai line. As airport transport it makes no financial sense, which was freely acknowledge when it was built.
@frankantoniomartin what about putting in the Vegas Xtrain, its a 4th proposal passenger train, unlike the other three propose high speed rail, the train will be a low speed train accept it will be a big Land Yaght that cruises the existing Union Pacific railroad from Middle of LA to Las Vegas at 55 MPH. the train cars will feture gaming cars, sport bars cars, and coach cars with LCD screens and tables.
@sideslide23 The Xtrain is tplanning for 8 trains procured over a 5 year period. Each train will carry a maximum of 1000 passengers. The ticket will be $200 r/t and they expect to sell food and drinks, and get a cut on room,club and golf reservations. They may even have gambling on board for the 1 hour that the train is in Nevada. Unless plane tickets get a lot higher it will be difficult to fill 8 trains with 10 r/t per week at that price for 5.5 hr ride. For four ppl you could rent a limo.
@frankantoniomartin what iff the Desert Xpress get Canceled and the California High speed rail Get Canceled like it did with the Florida high speed rail? I keep hearing that every Plan for High speed rail in America has always been a Boondoggle, is it because its too fast, is Diesel Train are cheaper to build and opperate than higih speed rail? I heard on the news with the high speed train Crash in Chini which killed more than dosen of passenger on August.
@sideslide23 You have a good point. But the Xtrain will end up competing with freight trains in trying to get time on the rails. Right now there is only a single passenger train running daily through the El Cajon pass (Amtrak's Desert Chief). X train is talking about adding 8 more. Competition will get fierce in a few years. Right now there is no commuter trains running to Victorville partly because of the competition with freight trains.
@frankantoniomartin But Maglev is extremely expensive anyway, and to be honest a wast of time aswell, when u can build a railway in half the time, make more money, and operate a far more reliable service. The maglev is just innovative but not really practical, and plus it loos horrible. and takes up loads of room.
The DesertXpress is basically a variation of the Acela Express in the northeast. They both would use trainsets built by Bombardier, and they both would top out at 150 mph. But the Acela has 9 stops from Washington to NYC, and would go just as fast if they laid all new rail (except for the stops).
unlike the Acela, the desert xpress will have better tracks so they don't have to slow down on turns and bridges because they will have newer tracks and power system.
the Maglev is a very expensive type of HSR, so I suggest that we go wtih the American Acela, type of high speed going from victorvill to Las Vegas, which eventially will be extended to Palmdale to connect with the California high speed rail.
but the Acela is slowed by other trains on the line, with a specially built line, such as High Speed 1 and the French LGV's sppeds can rise considerably
the Acela can reach up to 200 MPH but the Gov won't allow it to go more the 150 MPH and the Tracks and bridges on the Acela route is soo bad that the train has to slow down to 80 and 65 MPH when making turns and crossing bridge because the tracks and bridge was built in the 1930s so there going have to replace the tracks, the transformers, and take out the steal trust bridge for newer bridge that can stand high speed.
Victorville is Americas truck stop
PyR0Star 2 days ago
There's already track (freight) connecting LA to Los Vegas. This route skips Victorville. Upgrade the existing freight rail with a 1st rate track for each direction of travel. The peak speed can reach 100mph with few stops between the LA area and Vegas. The cost of upgrade can be shared with the freight system and will certainly be much less than the standalone proposed system.
rusty2b 1 week ago
I like that girl which is in the video. She is very Sweet American Girl...
Wow... Very Sweet...
ronny4ualwaz 3 weeks ago
Anaheim to Victorville on HSR? Well, let's see...you'd have to somehow make it through the Santa Ana Canyon, pound the diamonds at Colton, creep through Berdoo yard, snake along until Sullivan's Curve, battle with a 2.4% grade up to Cajon Summit, and clatter across the Frost Flyover, all while fighting for trackage rights with 50-MPH Burlington Northern Santa Fe trains.
...
Route 'er through Saugus and Fullerton. Lots of underused rights-of-way there. Best part is CAHSR could use it as well.
ATSFAsbel98 1 month ago
Comment removed
paullubliner 3 months ago
Comment removed
paullubliner 3 months ago
in europe is good high speed train from Amsterdam ( Nederland / the Nethelandse) to Brussel ( Belgie/ Belgium) to Paris/Parijs ( Frankrijk/France) end From Amstersdam ( Nederland/the Nethelands) to Berin/Berlijn ( Duitsland/Deutscheland/Germeny) the maxi high speed of the train is 300 km/h
sebasijssel 4 months ago
The maglev really isn't my thing, even if it is fast, it's way too expensive to be worth it.
Hightrain12 4 months ago
@Hightrain12 the Maglev is a Lamborgini of High speed rail while the TGV is a Ferrari of High speed rail
sideslide23 3 months ago
Driving to vegas from anaheim on a busy weekend can take 12hrs. thanx to traffic and two tanks of gas. Build the train and I'll buy the first ticket. Warning however, Once California has high speed rail The whole nation will want it.
tombstonetom 11 months ago
"Funded by private donations"?? (4:13) This would be "donations" to politicians.
The project would go bankrupt and the operators will quickly ask for subsidies.
The Vegas monorail, also private, is bankrupt and the RTA said NO to subsidy or takeover.
wicky201 1 year ago
haha they would catch a BNSF with fadded paint!
MoPacBoy 1 year ago
the 3rd HSR project has been establish but being understudy right now, calls the Desert Lightning, the Desert lightning will use the same technology like the Desert Xpress, not only its going to go from middle of L.A. to Vegas, it will be going to Phoenix AZ so people who lives in Arizona could have a choice of going to Vegas or L.A. and beat the heat without getting on a Plane, or sitting on the Bus or in your car on the I10 for 7 hours.
sideslide23 1 year ago
these for of transportation is way better Than going Greyhound.
sideslide23 1 year ago
Maglev is great and has been successful in a couple places in the world, but DesertXpress is a better option because it is a privately owned, operated, and funded company. Until companies such as TransRapid can figure out how to build Maglev systems at a lower cost, conventional High Speed Rail is the best answer.
gibb1991 1 year ago
I reciently heard that they would be launching a 3rd passenger train service calls the Vegas X train, which I never heard before, pariently it won't be a high speed train but they said that they would start their service next year, they will travel on the existing railroad from L.A. Union station to Vegas, traveling 80 MPH they will have bi level cars with video slot machine, bars, gabling tables and will take 5 1/2 hours trip well good luck X train
sideslide23 1 year ago
@sideslide23 I heard about it too. I went to their website and saw their proposals and interior designs. They're fantastic! But once DesertXpress starts in 2014 they're totally screwed.
gibb1991 1 year ago
the biggest problem of Las Vegas to Anaheim High speed rail would be the
competitons of Indian Casinos.
If it wasn't for the Indian casinos, Las Vegas Casinos will have enough money
to build the high speed rail to california, and make it free ride, or at least very cheap.
but because of the proliferation of Indian gambling joints near Los Angeles area,
less people go to Las Vegas, and business is not what it used to be.
simhopp 1 year ago
This is an example of idiot reporting. Everyone knows that Anaheim is a better location than Victorville. There is no analysis of costs, political issues, or funding.
-----------
You could make one of these stupid videos saying that San Francisco is better than Anaheim.
frankantoniomartin 1 year ago
@frankantoniomartin: With DesertXpress there are no political or funding issues because DesertXpress is a private company that is building their lines with their own money on their own terms. There is no taxpayer cash being used to build or subsidize this line.
gibb1991 1 year ago
Maglev From Las Vegas to LA/ONT International Airport. Then California High Speed Rail to LA Union Station. The Desert Xpress is a gutter ball. What a terrible idea. I don't think people from the O.C. or I.E. are going to park their BMW's in an overnight desert train station parking lot then take a slow train the rest of the way to Vegas. And they most certainly will not travel to Vegas via Palmdale, they will go up the 15 Freeway...you know the San Diego Freeway as in the San Diego Metro Area.
cha0s42088 2 years ago
I live in Vegas & going to California would take me 4 hrs to get from Las Vegas to Los Angeles. The Desert express is not the right option. If they were to pick that train, it would go to a town that really has 0attractions. All Victorville is a small town with homes, buissnesses, & industries. NOTHING FUN THERE. The maglev train going from Las Vegas to Anaheime is the correct choice. This train will connect a city filled with entertainment to another city loaded with fun & entertainment.
Trainking922 2 years ago
the desert xpress is eventually going to be extended to palmdale, and connect to the California high speed rail, so If you want to go to Anaheim, you take the Desert xpress to palmdale and connect with the California high speed and travel to Anaheim. but maybe in another 20 years theyll do the maglev,
sideslide23 2 years ago 2
when California High speed rail construction start, there going to extend the tracks for the Desert Xpress from victorvill to Palmdale so if your going from Vegas you can make connection with the California HSR and take it to Anaheim and your at Disneyland.
sideslide23 2 years ago 3
@Trainking922: I would agree. But I think the arrival of the DesertXpress will bring more attractions and services to Victorville. DesertXpress announced a couple weeks ago that construction will begin in March 2011.
gibb1991 1 year ago
@gibb1991 Agreed. It is said that DesertXpress will be useless because there is no connection to LA Union Station. But as soon as DesertXpress starts operations out of Victorville somebody such as Metrolink or a private company will jump on it instantly to provide the connection.
gibb1991 1 year ago
@gibb1991 A Metrolink or other connection is a good point. I would certainly hope so, anyway. I love to travel by train, so I would use the Desert Express. However, if it isn't easy, the GENERAL public won't use it. If only the Desert Express was going to Anaheim !!
MrMiner49r 1 year ago
@MrMiner49r That's the eventual goal; to connect to the California High Speed Rail Network and serve the cities on the route.
gibb1991 1 year ago
@MrMiner49r the Desert Xpress wil eventually be extended to Palmdale whare it will connect to the California high speed rail, so If you coming from vegas, you can either go to San Fransisco or Anaheim,.
sideslide23 1 year ago
@sideslide23 Palmdale - I like it! Any connection to the CA HSR makes sense, and that would be an easy connection for the general public to make (both literally AND figuratively).
MrMiner49r 11 months ago
@MrMiner49r right, I haven't heard any word on when will Desertxpress would start building, now there asking for Federal fund for their project.
sideslide23 11 months ago
The biggest problem that I have is that Japan is budgeting $55 billion for a Maglev less than 180 miles. I think the $12 billion for the 260 mile Vegas to Anaheim rail is a seriously underestimated. Clearly going to Anaheim is better than Victorville, but the shorter option relatively ordinary technology in use in Europe.
= A train to Anaheim that costs $200 each way is less useful than a train to Victorville that costs $50 each way.
frankantoniomartin 2 years ago 7
Seriously, if you look at REAL cost per mile estimates, the maglev could be in thee range of $30-40 billion, an amount that could be used to build the entire California High-Speed Rail system with a spur to Victorville to connect to the DesertXpress. Maglev: "Bridge to the 22nd century", more like failure of the 20th century.
poseidoncambria 2 years ago
Comment removed
sideslide23 2 years ago
@frankantoniomartin I agree with your observation. Germany recently cancelled plans for a Transrapid maglev system to be implimented; due to the prices wildly raising to three times their inital estimates as more quotes and evaluations came in. This was said mainly to be down to the civil engineering involved rather than the maglev costs themselves, but they're part and parcel of building the line to begin with. At least with conventional HSR, it is highly profitable (unlike the Chinese Maglev).
s2k997 2 years ago
With MAGLEV at Shanghai peak speed of 431 km/hr and operational wheel on steel no peaking at 350 km/hr it is not clear if it makes much of a difference in an operational system. There are still advantages to MAGLEV (like urban noise) but they are not longer as clear.
frankantoniomartin 2 years ago
Comment removed
sideslide23 1 year ago
@sideslide23
They are so far from the Palmdale extension that they are not even close to setting ticket prices. However, if you want to take the new HST from Union Station to Palmdale and then on to Vegas (with or without transfers), it had better be comparable to plane tickets.
= In the future plane flights may be much more expensive as the SoCal airports hit the point where no more flights can be added (which may not be very long from now).
frankantoniomartin 1 year ago
@frankantoniomartin I understand, I just got the total estiment for passenger to go From Vegas to Anaheim by Desert xpress and CAHSR your lookling at $72 Per Pas eachway, yes $72 is better than $200 each way, $72 include DE from Vegas to PalmDale and CASHR connection to Anaheim
sideslide23 1 year ago
Many cities and countries have advocacy groups for MAGLEV. The group in the UK is known as "500kmh com" that want to see MAGLEV used for domestic transport instead of conventional rail. The Shanghai MAGLEV was heavily subsidized, and a very expensive advertisement to try and procure the contract for the Beijing to Shanghai line. As airport transport it makes no financial sense, which was freely acknowledge when it was built.
frankantoniomartin 1 year ago
@frankantoniomartin what about putting in the Vegas Xtrain, its a 4th proposal passenger train, unlike the other three propose high speed rail, the train will be a low speed train accept it will be a big Land Yaght that cruises the existing Union Pacific railroad from Middle of LA to Las Vegas at 55 MPH. the train cars will feture gaming cars, sport bars cars, and coach cars with LCD screens and tables.
sideslide23 5 months ago
@sideslide23 The Xtrain is tplanning for 8 trains procured over a 5 year period. Each train will carry a maximum of 1000 passengers. The ticket will be $200 r/t and they expect to sell food and drinks, and get a cut on room,club and golf reservations. They may even have gambling on board for the 1 hour that the train is in Nevada. Unless plane tickets get a lot higher it will be difficult to fill 8 trains with 10 r/t per week at that price for 5.5 hr ride. For four ppl you could rent a limo.
frankantoniomartin 5 months ago
@frankantoniomartin what iff the Desert Xpress get Canceled and the California High speed rail Get Canceled like it did with the Florida high speed rail? I keep hearing that every Plan for High speed rail in America has always been a Boondoggle, is it because its too fast, is Diesel Train are cheaper to build and opperate than higih speed rail? I heard on the news with the high speed train Crash in Chini which killed more than dosen of passenger on August.
sideslide23 5 months ago
@sideslide23 You have a good point. But the Xtrain will end up competing with freight trains in trying to get time on the rails. Right now there is only a single passenger train running daily through the El Cajon pass (Amtrak's Desert Chief). X train is talking about adding 8 more. Competition will get fierce in a few years. Right now there is no commuter trains running to Victorville partly because of the competition with freight trains.
There is no free lunch.
frankantoniomartin 5 months ago
@frankantoniomartin But Maglev is extremely expensive anyway, and to be honest a wast of time aswell, when u can build a railway in half the time, make more money, and operate a far more reliable service. The maglev is just innovative but not really practical, and plus it loos horrible. and takes up loads of room.
EWS60500 1 month ago
The DesertXpress is basically a variation of the Acela Express in the northeast. They both would use trainsets built by Bombardier, and they both would top out at 150 mph. But the Acela has 9 stops from Washington to NYC, and would go just as fast if they laid all new rail (except for the stops).
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frankantoniomartin 2 years ago 2
unlike the Acela, the desert xpress will have better tracks so they don't have to slow down on turns and bridges because they will have newer tracks and power system.
sideslide23 2 years ago
the Maglev is a very expensive type of HSR, so I suggest that we go wtih the American Acela, type of high speed going from victorvill to Las Vegas, which eventially will be extended to Palmdale to connect with the California high speed rail.
sideslide23 2 years ago 2
but the Acela is slowed by other trains on the line, with a specially built line, such as High Speed 1 and the French LGV's sppeds can rise considerably
peggey707 2 years ago
the Acela can reach up to 200 MPH but the Gov won't allow it to go more the 150 MPH and the Tracks and bridges on the Acela route is soo bad that the train has to slow down to 80 and 65 MPH when making turns and crossing bridge because the tracks and bridge was built in the 1930s so there going have to replace the tracks, the transformers, and take out the steal trust bridge for newer bridge that can stand high speed.
sideslide23 2 years ago
exactly, they are basically building a new railway, upgrading everything
peggey707 2 years ago
Comment removed
sideslide23 2 years ago