(The following article by Chuck Mueller was posted on the San Bernardino County Sun website on June 24.)
VICTORVILLE, Calif. — A nationwide network of superspeed trains powered by electromagnets could get America off oil, a councilman said Wednesday.
“Congress is on the verge of funding the first stage of a maglev (magnetically levitated) train system, and we believe the prototype will be built here,’ Victorville Councilman Mike Rothschild said.
Congress is expected to appropriate up to $1billion by the end of the year to launch the maglev system, he said, and the route proposed between Las Vegas and Anaheim could win the funding race among other routes planned in Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C.
“Over the next 20 years, it would take a substantial investment to get us away from our dependence on oil,’ said Rothschild, a member of the California-Nevada Super Speed Train Commission.
But the $19billion system, which propels trains at 300 mph on elevated guideways instead of rails, is energy efficient, environmentally safe and virtually pollution-free, he said.
Rothschild was among a group of officials taking part in a public meeting Wednesday that looked at the potential environmental impact of maglev across the High Desert and San Bernardino Valley. Another session will be held from 4 to 9 p.m. today at Barstow Community College.
“It will take 18 to 24 months to prepare an environmental report, and we expect a decision by 2006,’ said Dennis Papilion, vice president of Santa Ana-based URS Corp., the consulting firm preparing the report.
The Federal Railroad Administration is working with the Nevada Department of Transportation, Caltrans and the Super Speed Train Commission to hone in on future funds for the project, Papilion told Danettee Woo, a National Park Service spokeswoman in the audience.
Jim Mallery, transit planning manager for Nevada’s department of transportation, called the environmental study “a vital step toward completing a detailed design and construction of (maglev’s) first 40 miles’ from Las Vegas to Primm, Nev., at the California state line.
Officials said a typical maglev train would carry about 100 passengers, whose one-way fare from Anaheim to Las Vegas would be about $42, at least half that of a plane ticket. The trip would take 86 minutes.
Victorville and Barstow are designated as key stops along a 269-mile route paralleling Interstate 15 across the High Desert.
“Maglev will help make the High Desert a destination for visitors and will generate all types of new business,’ Rothschild said.
The Federal Railroad Administration filed an official notice of intent last month to prepare an environmental impact statement for the maglev project.
Potential effects to be studied include those on land use, air quality, noise and environmental and cultural resources.
The superspeed train commission and its private-sector partner, American Magline Group, seek $1billion in federal funds to construct the project’s first 40 miles, from Las Vegas to Primm, Nev.
A 31-mile segment from Anaheim to Ontario would follow. The final stage would be a 198-mile segment from Primm, Nev., to Ontario.
The full project could cost up to $19billion to complete. A commission report says environmental proceedings will require 18 to 24 months. After public comments are reviewed, the Federal Railroad Administration will issue a decision in 2005 or 2006, setting the stage to begin building the project’s first 40 miles.
The California-Nevada Superspeed Train Commission is competing for federal dollars with other proposed Maglev routes, in Pittsburgh, Pa., and Baltimore, Md., Rothschild said.
A competing proposal from the Southern California Association of Governments calls for linking Los Angeles International Airport, downtown Los Angeles, Ontario and Riverside.
At present, the only commercial Maglev system operates in China, linking Shanghai with its international airport 19 miles away.
Germany has been testing Maglev trains since 1984 on a 19-mile track.