The federal government has officially designated a high-speed rail corridor between Las Vegas and Southern California, a move that will allow developers of super train projects to apply for federal money. The move was announced at a news conference today attended by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, who was key to getting the long-awaited designation.

But you knew that already, since we recklessly speculated that might be the case yesterday, and the Las Vegas Sun’s Lisa Mascaro had the story this morning. (We Tweeted it — complete with pictures! — for those lucky few who follow us on Twitter.)

Reid’s role in the designation shouldn’t be understated — the senior senator worked behind the scenes with LaHood, Vice President Joe Biden and others to get the Las Vegas-to-Southern California route considered. And he helped considerably when the Barack Obama administration wanted to designate $8 billion in in the stimulus bill for high-speed rail projects. So, train lovers, would-be Vegas vistors who live in Southern California and Las Vegans who want a quick trip to the Golden State owe Reid one.

“It is something that is essential for this part of the country,” Reid said at the event. “I’ve dreamed of a high-speed rail connection between Nevada and Southern California for more than 30 years.”

We’re sure Reid was dreaming of it during a recent car trip from San Diego to Las Vegas with his wife, where he reports he was stopped at least three times, once for 45 minutes. We’ve made that same drive, and suffered in some of the same traffic.

But the news conference was not just about the high-speed rail designation. It was also the scene of the ongoing not-so-subtle tug-of-war between backers of a magnetic levitation train that aims to run directly from Las Vegas to Anaheim, Calif., and the DesertXpress, a conventional electric train that aims to run from Las Vegas to Victorville, Calif., and from there eventually connect to a $10 billion intrastate rail network contemplated for the Golden State.

Reid made it clear what side he was on recently, when he switched his longstanding support from the maglev project to the DesertXpress, which is backed by, among others, Sig Rogich, the Republican consulant who now co-chairs the group Republicans for Reid. At times, the news conference seemed like an informerical for the DesertXpress as much as the announcement of a federal transportation milestone.

Calling the DesertXpress the “first shovel-ready high speed rail project” in the country, Reid predicted the completion of an environmental review by next spring and a groundbreaking sometime in the next quarter. “We can’t simply continue to study this project,” Reid said, in a dig at the maglev train, which has been planned in one form or another for three decades.

Asked specifically about the maglev, Reid slammed the project he used to advocate: “We just simply don’t have the money,” he said, estimating the maglev’s cost at $40 million and saying other developers were rejecting the technology.

For his part, LaHood remained agnostic about which project would be the winner, saying his office would evaluate proposals starting in the fall, and begin to parcel out money by the end of the year. That schedule would seem to favor the DesertXpress, which has come a long way in the last three years in terms of preliminary work. The maglev project, however, is also working on an environmental review.

But Will Kempton, director of CalTrans, seemed to endorse the DesertXpress, too, mentioning linking Nevada’s rail system with California’s. Since the DesertXpress is limited by terminating in Victorville, a link to the high-desert city of Palmdale is necessary for riders to take advantage of California’s other lines, which are planned to run eventually from San Diego to Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sacramento, and many points in between. (A map put up at the event showed a DesertXpress route to Victorville, a spur to Palmdale and the proposed California rail network.)

The heavy focus on the DesertXpress seemed to take maglev backers by surprise. Neil Cummings, president of the American Magline Group, said he was surprised by the focus on his competitor.

“It’s not a good deal in this press conference for the maglev,” a downcast Cummings said afterward, adding it was “too early to tell” whether Reid’s endorsment was going to hurt his efforts.

Maglev backers say their project is superior, in that it runs faster and has a more direct route into Orange County. The technology — electricity is used to power magnets that levitate the train above its tracks and move it along its route — is more rare, and more expensive, than the conventional steel-wheel electric train contemplated by the DesertXpress.

But the maglev project has also been beset by delays, whereas the private DesertXpress is moving along more quickly. Although its backers have thus far used only private money for the project, the use of federal loans is still contemplated for about half the cost, Reid said. (The total cost is estimated at $5 billion total.)

UPDATE: The DesertXpress people, waiting in politics for what is referred to as a “decent interval,” put out this statement to express their happiness at the news, not only of a high-speed rail corridor, but also that so many powerful folks seem to love their project.

With regard to the announcement made by U.S. Transportation Secretary, Ray LaHood, Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, Cal Trans Executive Director Will Kempton and State of Nevada representatives, DesertXpress said today that they are thrilled that the Administration recognizes the importance of the extension of the California High-Speed Rail Corridor from the Los Angeles area to Las Vegas.

“The solid support expressed for our privately-funded DesertXpress project today as part of a great solution to I-15 congestion and as a life line to Nevada’s tourism industry, is significant as we move forward. We are anxious to work together to make DesertXpress the nation’s first high-speed passenger rail system that will connect Las Vegas to Southern California without the government having to foot the bill,” said Tom Stone, President of DesertXpress.

Note: Government loans still count as footing the bill, we think. But that’s just us.