Perry Kravec wrote on October 06, 2009 05:00 PM: The Japs and the Germans already have proven that Maglev is too expensive. American Maglev has the most efficient and feasible system.. and it too is more expensive than a rail system.
It's a real joke that it will create jobs... sure jobs for a year or two. then what?
To create real jobs we have to stop the Unfair Trade.
We have to level the playing field for American Companies.

Richard Rider - Chairman - San Diego Tax Fighters wrote on September 23, 2009 08:50 AM: Lastly, the train's ticket revenue will not cover even its annual OPERATING costs -- let alone the initial capital costs, or the cost of replacing worn out rolling stock and track 30 years down the (rail)road. No passenger train in the country – perhaps in the world – covers its operating costs with fare box revenue.

The good news is that I doubt this pipe dream will ever be built. The money simply will not appear. But regardless, we taxpayers will pay interest forever on the $45 million federal seed money – spent by proponents largely to raise more money!

Richard Rider - Chairman - San Diego Tax Fighters wrote on September 23, 2009 08:49 AM: Furthermore, anyone who believes the train will cost ONLY $12 billion hasn't been following this passenger rail con game for the last 100 years -- the proponents ALWAYS grossly understate the true cost (to get the project started). Our most recent example is San Diego County's Sprinter light rail train that came in MANY TIMES higher than its original projected cost.

Richard Rider - Chairman - San Diego Tax Fighters wrote on September 23, 2009 08:48 AM: So the feds are doling out $45 million for the proposed maglev Anaheim to Las Vegas high speed train, putting the bill on the taxpayers' credit card (it simply adds to the national debt we will pay forever). Great.

And how much is the train projected to cost? $12 BILLION! Let's see -- that $45 million is 0.0375% of the total cost. No, not 3.75%. $45 million is less than four one-hundredth of one percent of the projected cost.

Don G wrote on September 21, 2009 07:58 PM: There is something extremely wrong with reporting dacts "apples=apples"? Also, what one really needs to actually examine is WHY DesertX is not going to Anaheim? They claim that this Victorville is ideal and yet all travelers by car must then go over the mountains. They also don't discuss exactly how lame standard rail is on steep grades, freeze conditions and even rain. The prices have been shown to be $13B versus $4B but everyone fails to account for the fact that you're comparing a 269 mile line that will indeed trael at over 300 MPH consistantly to DesertX that will cover only 186 miles and travel on the flat runs at perhaps 130'ish MPH.

DesertX's website states "With the station in Victorville, DesertXpress avoids the uncertainty of the challenging 200-mile drive across the Mojave Desert that could take anywhere from 4 hours to 10 hours – you never know, because of congestion and incidents or accidents."

Goggle directions states that the trip is 186 miles by highway and it takes 2hrs 44 minutes. Goggle only makes clear that a trip from Anaheim to Vegas can vary from a normal of
3hrs 56 mins to as much as 5hrs 30 mins with heavy traffic in the basin area.

The maglev trip is a proven 80 minute total trip as compared to a car trip to Victorville and a 86 min ride on DesertX as claimed by the website. That number seems to be bogus since it is based on the top speed of the train and not the average.

When DesertX can offer a total cost to go to Anaheim, then we must remain suspicious of the total costs.

Japan invented highspeed. Now they are planning to replace it with their own maglev so ask yourself why?

Reid's Right wrote on September 21, 2009 02:05 PM: I tend to agree with Reid on this one. Maglev is about 10 billion dollars more expensive, the technology is basically untried in this country, and it’s been talked about for decades. Meanwhile, we have tried-and-true railroad technology already in use in this country. It’s the more prudent choice.

Plus, with all the money saved, I’m sure you could build out multiple arms from its termination point in California to any other major hub in California.

I also love the mention of Gibbons in this article. What a buffoon. Didn’t he get criticized immediately after sending a release crowing about the 45 million when the federal railroad agency responded that they hadn’t made the guarantee? Gibbons jumped the gun trying to score a political point and got smacked down.

Crazy Talk wrote on September 21, 2009 10:16 AM: Am I the only one who caught the fact that Maglev will only go to Primm for its first leg? And exactly how much will that cost us? For that matter how much Gov't $$ have they spent over the last 30 years?? What does the $45 million get us on a $3billion project? How about some accountability here?

Jennifer wrote on September 21, 2009 10:14 AM: Nevada and California need jobs now. With a completed Draft EIS and proven steel wheel trains, DesertXpress will create jobs far sooner than Maglev. The Maglev project they are trying to get environmentally cleared only goes 40 miles to Primm – NOT to Anaheim. They have no money to build it to Primm, let alone to Anaheim, and would need tens of billions of taxpayer dollars to do so. Three public agencies considering maglev completed independent studies that pegged its cost at $100 to $200 million per mile – which would make it $26 to $52 billion – not $13 billion. Also there are no existing safety standards in the US for Maglev, this could take years to develop and get approved. The German government, whose taxpayers paid for the development of the maglev technology, has completely abandoned the technology in favor of more high speed rail. The Chinese Government decided not to extend the short (19-mile) line feeding Shanghai Airport; instead, they are building the world’s largest high speed rail network.

Thirty years ago when Maglev technology was first introduced, it promised speeds never before imagined in rail. Since then, steel wheel has gone through many evolutions and set speed records only a few miles an hour slower than Maglev. High speed trains operate at speeds up to 220 mph. The maglev has never operated anywhere outside of a test run at speeds any faster than that. The trains selected to operate at 150 mph for the first phase of DesertXpress have been certified to run at speeds up to 186 mph.


DesertXpress’s first phase goes 200 miles into Southern California at no cost to the taxpayers. DesertXpress’s second phase to Palmdale will connect with the entire state through its voter-approved high speed rail network.

Free Nevada Meat Tokens wrote on September 21, 2009 09:59 AM: When MagLev is completed, the demographics and size of Clark County will rapidly change to encompass more educated people making more money and better decisions. The entire Southwest region will be transformed forever by high-speed cheap cargo and people transit. All land-intensive employment will move out of California to be replaced by services (ala New York and London) while housing in both California and Nevada begins skyrockets. We should plan on $40B and it should be purely financed by the government because the return on that investment will be drawn from many sectors of the economy, not simply from "ticket sales." MagLev's have few moving parts and are lower cost to maintain for the next 100 years --and they can't be taken over and flown into the Pentagon so with a simple biometric (palm print) you can have "walk-on/off" convenience without full body imaging or hours stuck on the tarmac.

Also, DesertXpress' planned route is through 4000-6000 ft mountain passes, and we all know that they aren't going to go much faster than 30mph up those things, especially when it's snowing, raining or foggy. As they travel across the floor of the Mojave they will be subject to tremendous cross winds and they are not securely coupled to the tracks like a MagLev. And, of course, if you've ever been on a Metrolink or Aamtrak you know it's like being dragged through town in a slow-moving car that breaks down often, not to mention collides with people and animals, sometimes even cars, far more often than non-train-riders realize.

Spike Flaherty wrote on September 21, 2009 09:15 AM: Neil Cummings does the old rabbit out of the hat trick once again. maglev is not able to climb grades any better than conventional rail, conventional rail is able to travel just as fast as maglev, and the cost of maglev is estimated at 100 million a mile...also Cummings had a chance to secure the 40 million 3 years ago...all he had to do was show some progress...zero to date, and as for his claim that they can break ground in 18 months (pure fantasy) thay haven't even begun the EIS process...that will take 2 to 3 years in its own right...if you want jobs DesertXpress is ready to build next year

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