Most of the attention has focused on high-speed rail and XpressWest , formerly DesertXpress, in part

Most of the attention has focused on high-speed rail and XpressWest , formerly DesertXpress, in particular. Its developers propose building a track to carry trains that travel 150 mph between Las Vegas and Victorville, enterprise car rental coupon Calif., then connecting it with high-speed lines from downtown Los Angeles to Victorville.
The company doesn't have to build tracks; they're already there. But developers did need permission to use them. A key factor in making their plan work was getting the track's owners, the Union Pacific Railroad , to sign off on an agreement that would assure the X Train of consistent on-time arrivals.
The Desert Wind failed because freight trains had priority on the track between Daggett, Calif., and Las Vegas. The new deal with Union Pacific treats the X Train's passengers like high-priority freight.
"It took three years from starting out with my first phone call to signatures on a contract," Barron said. "It was a little complicated because our trains travel four times faster than their freight trains. So they had to use capacity-study software to figure out how to fit our trains into their slots."
enterprise car rental coupon X Train developers will need to make some capital improvements before the train can run, including laying double tracking so trains can pass each other and building facilities so that Union Pacific's downtown Las Vegas employees can be relocated south of town.
The company also needs to build a train station. Passengers will arrive enterprise car rental coupon downtown. enterprise car rental coupon The northbound Union Pacific line runs just west of the Plaza , where Amtrak trains once stopped between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City.
The train will have 16 cars, including two food service cars, two lounges and 12 first-class passenger compartments with 48 seats and a small bar. Cocktails will be served on board so it's strictly an adults-only atmosphere.
enterprise car rental coupon The southern enterprise car rental coupon terminus of the train route will be the Fullerton enterprise car rental coupon Transportation Center in Orange County. That's a hub for Amtrak trains to San Diego, San Luis Obispo and Chicago, as well as for Metrolink, Southern California's enterprise car rental coupon rail system. It also is a bus depot for the Orange County Transportation Authority.
The route runs through the heart of a Joshua enterprise car rental coupon tree forest in the 1.6-million-acre Mojave National Preserve. The area, administered enterprise car rental coupon by the National Park Service, also is home to a defunct railroad depot and ghost town in Kelso, Calif.
Initially, the X Train will offer up-and-back trips Thursdays, Fridays, Sundays and Mondays. Barron said 81 percent of the trips made on northbound Interstate 15 occur on Thursdays and Fridays. He figures he'd need to capture only a small percentage of those motorists to make his venture a success.
"If this goes according to Hoyle, we could be bringing enterprise car rental coupon 2 million people a year (to Las Vegas)," Barron said. "If that's enterprise car rental coupon the case, that could be a major influx and could contribute to some greater thinking."
There was some initial confusion about ticket prices after a video about the project said tickets would cost $50 one way. That's enterprise car rental coupon the average price XpressWest enterprise car rental coupon is quoting for tickets on its planned high-speed train.
enterprise car rental coupon "We know each other pretty well," Barron said. "We've been to many speaking engagements together. My philosophy — and it seems to be echoed by their people — is that we're really not competitors. Their service enterprise car rental coupon is a high-speed, short run between Victorville and Las Vegas. If they get that built, there will be people who want to ride that, and that's fine. But there are always going to be people who want to ride this."
I just checked airfare prices for Long Beach to Las Vegas (Long Beach is located near Fullerton). I could get a round trip ticket for $98. I will get there significantly enterprise car rental coupon faster and at half the price. Sure, I ll have to take a cab / shuttle to the Strip but I d have to do exactly the same thing if I was let off at the Plaza in the downtown enterprise car rental coupon area.
The train also doesn t make sense with groups of people. For instance, 4 bachelors enterprise car rental coupon will have to pay $800 total to get back and forth from Las Vegas. While if they pile into a car and each chip in for gas, they could do the trip in $50 - $75 total and still have a car to get around to places off the strip.
Hopefully, the owners of the train take a look at the bottom line before inking this deal. I don t see this working unless the price drops significantly or they hope to entice the lone traveler who wants to get a buzz on before arriving to town.
When I first started to look at this I thought it could be a good thing and had considered taking an investment position. Once I read all the details, I came to the conclusion that this is doomed to fail. They have one stop, Fullerton. Didn t bother to plan a stop in one of the ten largest economies in the country. enterprise car rental coupon The San Fernando Valley. No one in their right mind will drive from Ventura, Santa Clarita, Thousand Oaks, SFV, of West LA to and from Fullerton in crazy traffic enterprise car rental coupon to take a train. In the time it takes from any of those locations to Fullerton you can drive over 50 plus miles heading towards Vegas. And yes the point is to get to Vegas......
Using that theory, Vegas should be empty of tourist except those who stay at Motel 6 and Travel enterprise car rental coupon Lodge. But people who live and work in Vegas know that these cheap places are not filled with tourists. The $300 a night rooms are filled with tourists.
I agree and disagree with some previous posters. Atlantic City IMO, is Vegas on the cheap, It is a short bus ride from Philadelphia or NY. I think that is why the train failed. I think the train should start in the San Fernando Valley, and stop at Union Station. That would allow people to use Metrolink or Amtrak as a connection to the train. Right now, the Amtrak schedule does not support anyone along the way from Santa Barbara to Union Station to connect to Fullerton.
I agree with vegasmark . You re paying for the experience. Not all forms of travel are equal... No airport stress, car traffic, boredom of driving. A leisurely stress free cruise on a open plan train with full bar and unlimited food included doesn t sound all that bad for $100 bucks.
I think a train from CA is needed, it can take 5 hrs to drive on certain days the traffic is so bad. I question the price point, it should be more competitive enterprise car rental coupon with air fares. Hopefully the downtown casinos will jump all over this and subsidise the fare to guests who book rooms with them, or create some package deals. This is a test for Desert Express to some degree, I hope it works great and leads to extended rail from Vegas to CA.
This company is really insane for $100 per one way trip. Best thing to do is partner with Boyd Group and make the Stop at Main Street Station (just north of Plaza Hotel). Making this arrangement could lessen the price to $25 per person each way, packaging room deals with 3 Downtown Properties (Main Street Station, Fremont, California), helps expand Zappos influence. The money is never the trip but the destination stations they build in the process. The Airlines don t make the cash (they are losing it and cutting costs on everything); the Airports are the places that make the most money with the $4 bottle water.