The competition to provide rail service between Las Vegas (NV) and southern California continues to heat up, although the track record is not exactly encouraging. Four proposals are currently circulating: a magnetic levitation option, the high-speed Desert Xpress (between Las Vegas and Victorville), and two so-called party trains that would divert travelers on the five-and-a-half hour trip with booze and entertainment (and possibly gambling).
About one in four Las Vegas visitors came from Southern California last year, and the majority used ground transportation, turning the 270-mile trip into what The Washington Post calls “a six-hour or longer grind in heavy traffic in the middle of nowhere.” Amtrak tried to revive a Los Angeles – Las Vegas train about six years ago, asking a tour company to develop a “Fun Train” modeled after an annual San Francisco-to-Reno trip. But the Las Vegas fun train ended after a single run due to low ridership — and lack of scenery on the six-hour ride through the desert. “People said there was nothing to see, which there wasn’t,” the tour operator said. “We tried our best and did everything we could to get it to go.” Link to full story in The Washington Post.
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