A maglev train, similar to this one in Shanghai, China, could be built in Nevada
Gov.
Jim Gibbons has some good news, Nevada: We’re going to get a super-fast train, the fastest one in the world, and it’s going to be built right here in Nevada! That’s right, using a mysterious technology built upon magnetic attraction and repulsion, a train that will literally levitate in the air will soon be ours!
Gibbons put the word out in a news release today. Here’s what it said:
CALIFORNIA-NEVADA INTERSTATE MAGLEV PROJECT RECEIVES $45 MILLION AWARD
Funding critical to begin planning for construction of “the fastest train in the worldâ€
Carson City – Governor Jim Gibbons is working to bring the future of transportation to Nevada. Governor Gibbons today announced that the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has approved a work plan and is issuing a contract that will enable final design, engineering and environmental approvals necessary to build the starter segment of “the fastest train in the world†right here in Nevada. The FRA has confirmed that a Cooperative Agreement will be issued to the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) that will enable preparations for the starter segment of the 269-mile California-Nevada Interstate Maglev Project (CNIMP). The entire project involves a super-speed magnetic levitation (MAGLEV) train system operating between Las Vegas and Anaheim, California.
“This project will bring thousands of jobs to Nevada, and eventually millions of tourists,†Governor Gibbons said, “Last year, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and I discussed the need for this important project and I plan to work closely with him and make this high-speed maglev train between Southern California and Las Vegas a reality.â€
… The CNIMP will bring true, innovative high-speed rail travel to the people of Nevada and Southern California with construction to begin in as few as 18 months.
“This project will put Nevadans to work and will help bring our transportation infrastructure into the 21st century,†Gibbons said. According to present plans, the trains would make the trip from Anaheim, California to Las Vegas, Nevada in about 81-minutes travelling at speeds up to 310 miles per hour. Magnetic levitation trains use powerful magnets to suspend the train above a guideway. This allows much higher travel speeds than conventional trains. Eventually, Las Vegas could serve as the hub of a high-speed train system that will not only connect to Southern California, but also service the states that are in the process of forming the Western High-Speed Rail Alliance (Colorado, Nevada, Arizona, Utah and New Mexico).
You know what’s totally awesome? The fact that Gibbons doesn’t mention that the maglev train idea has been around for some 30 years, and is just now getting around to finishing up that original environmental impact statement. Also the fact that his one-time political adviser, Sig Rogich, is fronting another train idea, a conventional choo-choo that will travel from Las Vegas to Victorville, Calif. (That train, in the planning stages for just a few years, is also wrapping up its environmental statement.) Or the fact that the Gibbons-backed maglev train is in competition with the Rogich train — aka the DesertXpress — for federal funding. Or the fact that U.S. Sen. Harry Reid — after years of backing the maglev — is now on board with Rogich’s train, news that broke just days after Rogich said he’s heading up a group of Republicans who support Reid.
All that stuff is totally awesome, no?
In retrospect, Gibbons’s release is probably slightly less subtle than if the governor wrote a “memo” on his official letterhead with a big black Sharpie pen that read, “Dear Sig: I’ve got money for my own train, so fuck you, buddy! Love, Jim.”
Truthfully, however, Gibbons is right about a few things: First, the maglev train (if it goes all the way to Anahiem) will bring jobs and tourists to Nevada (to say nothing of California expatriates such as yours truly back home). It could also help ferry tourists from the planned Ivanpah airport to Las Vegas. It will be the fastest train in the world. And it will not stop when it hits Victorville.
Damn, that last one really hurts.
UPDATE: Oh, no. It seems the governor’s release may have been wrong. Does this mean we have to stop packing for Disneyland?
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