Posted on 09/17/2015 3:27:31 PM PDT by don-o
A long-discussed high-speed rail project linking Southern California and Las Vegas will be built by a U.S.-China joint venture, Chinese officials said Thursday, though many details about the agreement remained hazy.
Announcement of cooperation on the XpressWest project adjacent to the 15 Freeway comes days ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinpings state visit to the United States. Financial terms of the agreement, and the cost of the project, were not immediately clear.
XpressWest, a private venture formerly called DesertXpress, has been under discussion since at least 2007. Chinese officials described the project as a 230-mile train linking Las Vegas and Los Angeles, though XpressWest's website says the route is planned as 185 miles from Vegas to Victorville, 85 miles northeast of downtown L.A.
XpressWest agreed this month to form a joint venture with China Railway International USA Co. to build and operate the railway, Shu Guozeng, deputy head of the government's Office of the Central Leading Group for Financial and Economic Affairs, said at a news conference Thursday, according to the state-run Xinhua News Agency. Shu claimed the project could begin construction as early as September 2016.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
China partnering? Perhaps they view this more as investing for the future.
Are they going to use BNSF/UP track or try to squeeze a third track through the Mojave Narrows? Good luck with that.
I wondered why they weren’t proposing an LA to Las Vegas route in the first place. That actually would get a lot of riders.
Just what we need. Maybe they can tie it in to Moonbeam’s train to nowhere.
The freeway to Vegas is always crowded. So, yes.
This is not an investment in the future. Spending the money to build desalinization plants to meet all of California’s water needs would be an investment in the future.
They being the Chinese.... And the future being a Chinese future.
Foreigners are buying our businesses and investing in, well, everything here because we don’t.
This is dangerous.
I agree. I travel LA to Vegas every six weeks. Traffic is terrible unless you leave very early (5:30AM to 6:00AM)
Have they alread picked the bridge failure points for the train?
Just so they strap aRnie or Harry or MoonBeam as a hood ornament..
If you build it,, they will come.. Jaaa!!!
Roundtrip flights cost about $75 from Los Angeles to Las Vegas.
Tripadvisor: There are 102 daily flights from Los Angeles, CA to Las Vegas, NV
Average flying time for a direct flight from Los Angeles, CA to Las Vegas, NV is 1 hour 16 minutes
No train can compete. Not even close. Same for that non high speed train to nowhere from LA to San Francisco. Follow the money to the gov’t leaders and back to China. Keep in mind that people’s lives are cheap in China so what dead Americans in train accidents to them?
Oh, gosh no way. I would never ride anything China builds!
A quick internet search claimed the drive time was 4 hrs or so. I realize “LA” encompasses a huge land area and traffic congestion, but by the time you commute to the airport or train station, go through security, take the trip, claim your luggage, and rent a car, it seems like the same amount of time.
It’s something. The question is what? What exactly is in it for the Chinese? Perhaps a built it they will come. Boxcars.
Yeh. Perfect! Make it easy for MS-13 and the like to move back and forth.
Thanks, and check out my long-standing tagline...
Money. And, planting hacking tools in every hardware and software.
There are no Boeing 737s in LA?
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