LAS VEGAS — Four California and Nevada mayors pledged their support Tuesday for a futuristic magnetic-levitation train linking Las Vegas with Southern California, but there was little indication the project would get needed federal funding, the Associated Press reported.
The mayors’ meeting presented a unified front in hopes of winning nearly $1 billion in government money over Pittsburgh and Baltimore developers, whose bids for a high-speed “maglev” train have run into opposition from local groups.
The Nevada train — on a 269-mile route between Las Vegas and Anaheim, Calif. — has been discussed for nearly two decades. With the support of Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., it has won $6 million in federal study grants since 1999.
The first planned segment — a 40-mile track between Las Vegas and Primm — would cost $1.3 billion. The entire project could cost $9 billion.
Reid and U.S. Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, say the Nevada route would be more cost-effective and easier to build than the East Coast proposals.
But the Federal Railroad Administration last year eliminated Las Vegas and California bids from a competition for a demonstration maglev train, and is set to award as much as $950 million to Pittsburgh or Baltimore next year.
The train, with no wheels to create friction, is propelled by magnetic force and can cruise at speeds of more than 300 miles per hour. Prototypes using the costly technology have been built in Germany and Japan, and China is set to begin operating the world’s first commercial maglev train next year.
Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman told House and Senate staffers Tuesday that his region needs the train to reduce highway congestion and improve air quality.
“This is not a luxury anymore, this is a necessity,” Goodman said.
The mayors of Barstow, Ontario and Victorville also spoke at a meeting of the California-Nevada Super Speed Train Commission. Each has written to federal lawmakers asking for support for the train, saying it would aid traffic woes, air travel and cargo transportation throughout the southwest.
“We have not come up with any other solutions that work” to ease congestion, said Ontario Mayor Gary Ovitt.
A federal environmental impact assessment would be needed before any project can go beyond the concept phase. The government has nearly completed studies in Baltimore and Washington, but there has been no money dedicated to a study of the Nevada-California project.