SAN BERNARDINO, Calif.–The establishment of high-speed train service from Anaheim to Las Vegas along the Interstate 15 corridor inched forward Wednesday when a regional planning group approved $125,000 for feasibility studies and other pre-construction work, the Victorville (Calif.) Daily Press reported.
Funding for the so-called “bullet” train program was approved 17-4 by the San Bernardino Associated Governments board during its meeting Wednesday in San Bernardino.
“This funding is a major statement to Congress that California supports this (project),” said Victorville Mayor Mike Rothschild, who also sits on the California-Nevada Super Speed Train Commission. “We’re all in this together.”
With planned train stops in each city, Victorville and Barstow officials have already plunked down $50,000 each toward the studies of the first California leg of the track, Anaheim to Ontario.
The cities of Ontario and Anaheim and the Orange County Transportation Authority have each contributed $125,000. The Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District threw an additional $75,000 into the pot.
At the monthly SANBAG meeting, Rothschild stood as one of the California-Nevada Corridor Maglev Project’s biggest cheerleaders.
“Maglev is the future,” Rothschild said before the vote.
Maglev, short for magnetic levitation, runs using an electric current to create a traveling magnetic field that pulls the vehicle at speeds of up to 310 miles per hour without ever physically contacting the rails. The vehicle actually hovers an inch or so above the track and is prevented from flying off by guidebars.
Proponents of the multi-billion dollar project say the technology is environmentally friendly and will alleviate freeway congestion between Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
Opponents worry that the technology might not be cost-effective in the long-run.
But Rothschild said this is an important investment.
“I’m old enough to remember Eisenhower asking for $50 billion for the highway system and everyone complaining that it was too expensive,” Rothschild said.
Rothschild said that a Victorville stop — to be located at the Southern California Logistics Airport — would bring jobs and revenue to the area, provide another travel option for commuters and reduce air pollution.
“There is no downside to the Maglev project,” Rothschild said.
He expects ground to break on the Las Vegas to Primm, Nev., segment on the line within the next 18 months. This 40-mile segment, he said, has financial backing from Las Vegas hotel and casino interests.
The Victorville stop, Rothschild estimated, could be online in the next five to seven years. The Anaheim to Ontario feasibility studies are to be completed by March.