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Posted by
WillD
on Sun Jun 10 17:54:30 2012
edf40wrjww2msgDetail:detailStr fiogf49gjkf0d From Victorville Daily Press
Vegas train's LA link advances VICTORVILLE • A high-speed train from Victorville to Palmdale has inched one step closer to reality.
Developers of the planned $6.9 billion DesertXpress train from Las Vegas to Victorville have entered into talks with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority to explore a Victorville-to-Palmdale extension.
The goal is to quiet detractors of the Victorville terminus by connecting Las Vegas and Los Angeles, with a Metrolink stop in Palmdale now and a planned stop there on the floundering $68 billion California bullet train from L.A. to San Francisco.
The by-product is that Victor Valley residents would be able to get to Palmdale — and, with a quick changeover and another 27-minute ride, the L.A. basin — completely by train.
“Extending service from the DesertXpress station in Victorville into the Los Angeles metropolitan area is a critical link in realizing the full potential of a robust southwest  high-speed rail network,” DesertXpress CEO Tony Marnell II said in a statement. “This commitment to work together is an important step toward delivering on that vision.”
Right-of-way for the Palmdale connection might be cleared before DesertXpress is forced to bid on a single acre, with a dozen government agencies partnered together to develop the E220 High Desert Corridor linking the Victor Valley with the Antelope Valley. That 63-mile, $950 million freeway has been pushed back a number of times, though developers say environmental work will be finished in 2013 and the road will be open for traffic in 2020.
It’s very early in the process for DesertXpress’ Palmdale connection, a company spokesman said, with the letters that were signed Thursday the first step toward beginning environmental reviews that could take until 2013, setting up an estimated $1.5 billion in funding and more.
Marc Littman, of L.A. Metro, said the letters indicate his organization is interested in sharing data, market evaluations and other studies with the DesertXpress crew so they can perhaps work together in advancing both the E220 and the high-speed train. However, Littman said the plan still has to come before the group’s 13-member board of directors this summer before any agreements are signed, with hopes to get Amtrak, Metrolink and other organizations onboard.
There are also a number of question marks punctuating the entire project, with DesertXpress still waiting to hear if it will get up to $6.5 billion in loans from the federal government to fund construction of the 185-mile Vegas-to-Victorville route. A decision on that funding is expected this summer.
If that loan is approved, DesertXpress hopes to start construction immediately. Construction is expected to take four years.
It's unfortunate that the article repeats Vartabedian's lies about the CHSRA, but with this development they're well on the way to having a high speed rail line between downtown LA and Las Vegas.
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