This just in, readers: The Los Angeles Times is reporting U.S. Sen. Harry Reid has backed off his support for a magnetic levitation train running between Las Vegas and Anahiem, Calif., in favor of a regular high-speed train that would run between Sin City and Victorville, Calif.

The Vegas-to-Victorville line, dubbed the Desert Xpress, is the pet project of Republican political consultant Sig Rogich, who just last week announced he was co-chairing a group called Republicans for Reid.

“I’ve been working on this for 30 years,” the Times quotes Reid as saying. “We’ve gotten nowhere. Maglev [magnetic levitation] projects have been abandoned around the world. It’s time to stop talking and start doing something.”

The piece says Reid grew discouraged about the prospects of the maglev train after a Government Accountability Office study said it could cost up to $40 billion, far more than the current $12 billion price tag. The Desert Xpress, by contrast, would be privately funded and cost about $4 billion.

“Maglev is not a priority for me anymore,” Reid said. “We need to get people moving. The I-15 is not working.”

The comments mark a surprise reversal for Reid, who has long backed a high-speed train linking Las Vegas with Southern California, one of our city’s biggest markets. Reid has won funding for studying the maglev train in the past, and President Barack Obama recently included $8 billion in his stimulus bill for high-speed rail projects such as the maglev train.

Under the Desert Xpress concept, motorists from Southern California cities would drive to Victorville, in the high desert, where they’d park and ride the 150 mph train into Las Vegas. By contrast, the maglev train would run from Las Vegas to Anaheim at speeds of up to 270 mph.