(The Associated Press circulated the following story on July 29.)
DIAMOND BAR, Calif. — U.S. Rep.Gary Miller is pushing for an Anaheim-to-Ontario airport link as part of the possible 269-mile California to Las Vegas high speed rail route.
The Anaheim stop would be used as an airport check-in site.
The Maglev train proposal has been on the drawing board for years, but Miller is now adding a new twist with the Anaheim stop for Ontario airport passengers. Travelers would check bags and get boarding passes in Anaheim, board the train and arrive at the airport in 14 minutes.
“If some people do believe there is a need for another airport in Orange County, this would fulfill that need,” the Diamond Bar Republican told The Orange County Register.
Miller and nine other Southern California and Nevada lawmakers wrote Transportation Committee Chairman Rep. Don Young last week to promote the proposal. They want it included in the $250 billion comprehensive highway bill being considered in the House.
The Anaheim to Ontario link would cost an estimated $2.7 billion.
“We have 100 percent local support all along the route. The biggest hurdle is the money,” said Neil Cummings, president of the American Maglev Group, a public-private consortium planning the high-speed train project.