Train stalled?
Oct 24, 2010 | 5:58 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2004
Programs: CO, UA, AA, WN, DL Gold
Posts: 2,981
Train stalled?
http://alanbestbuys.com/id103.html
The stock of the train from CA to Las Vegas is down. Speculation is that it may never run.
Just more bad news for Vegas.
The stock of the train from CA to Las Vegas is down. Speculation is that it may never run.
Just more bad news for Vegas.
Oct 25, 2010 | 12:15 am
#2
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: SoCal
Programs: AA, USAir, UA
Posts: 868
The various "proposals" for rail service to Las Vegas seem to miss that there is already an oversupply of inexpensive seats on airlines and buses traveling to Las Vegas... And that "luxury" rail service has failed repeatedly outside the business market of the NE corridor.
Further, the only railroad with trackage from the LA basin to Las Vegas (Union Pacific) is both actively hostile to working w/ passenger service (witness their rocky relations w/ Amtrak) and that track is currently straining capacity since it is single track with an very limited number of passing sidings between Barstow and Las Vegas. W/o expensive track & signaling improvements, passenger service is a no-go.
Finally, if UP is apt to work w/ *any* passenger service, it's going to be Amtrak....who has rights to reactivate the "Desert Wind" over that route dating from their creation. The route was abandoned largely because Amtrak lacked the equipment to devote to it, and with recent funding for new equipment, expect to see some proposal for reviving Amtrak service....probably conditional on state funding from CA & NV.
Further, the only railroad with trackage from the LA basin to Las Vegas (Union Pacific) is both actively hostile to working w/ passenger service (witness their rocky relations w/ Amtrak) and that track is currently straining capacity since it is single track with an very limited number of passing sidings between Barstow and Las Vegas. W/o expensive track & signaling improvements, passenger service is a no-go.
Finally, if UP is apt to work w/ *any* passenger service, it's going to be Amtrak....who has rights to reactivate the "Desert Wind" over that route dating from their creation. The route was abandoned largely because Amtrak lacked the equipment to devote to it, and with recent funding for new equipment, expect to see some proposal for reviving Amtrak service....probably conditional on state funding from CA & NV.
Oct 26, 2010 | 5:21 am
#4
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: jfk area
Programs: AA platinum; 2MM AA, Delta Diamond, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 10,291
What is really
needed is a TGV (200 mph) type of train system; this will require brand new track etc.--all of this is wishful thinking. Even on the Amtrak route between NYC and DC there is only a relatively short stretch (in Delaware) where the train gets to over 100 mph.
The USA is not ready (especially in bad economic times) for high speed rail service like they have in Europe.
needed is a TGV (200 mph) type of train system; this will require brand new track etc.--all of this is wishful thinking. Even on the Amtrak route between NYC and DC there is only a relatively short stretch (in Delaware) where the train gets to over 100 mph.The USA is not ready (especially in bad economic times) for high speed rail service like they have in Europe.
Oct 27, 2010 | 11:19 am
#5
Join Date: May 2003
Location: GEG
Programs: Motel 6 Club Avoir Le Cafard
Posts: 5,027
What oversupply? Discount airfares from LA to LAS have gone the way of the dinosaur. There's no train service. There's cramped Greyhound bus service and expensive Lux Bus service and no seats to spare on either. The only economical way to get there for 2 or more people is to do the Drive. And when this billion-dollar train is stood up the fares will have to be astronomical in order to pay the bondholders.
Oct 27, 2010 | 11:40 am
#6
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 95
What oversupply? Discount airfares from LA to LAS have gone the way of the dinosaur. There's no train service. There's cramped Greyhound bus service and expensive Lux Bus service and no seats to spare on either. The only economical way to get there for 2 or more people is to do the Drive. And when this billion-dollar train is stood up the fares will have to be astronomical in order to pay the bondholders.