Lure of Vegas tempts China

摘要

High speed Chinese-designed trains could someday speed passengers between Las Vegas and Southern California if a joint venture between China Railway International and Xpress West Enterprises moves beyond the $100 million initial investment the foreign company pledged in September. The initiative is the latest attempt to re-establish service that Amtrak abandoned when it discontinued the Los Angeles-Salt Lake City-Chicago Desert Wind on May 10,1997. Amtrak itself proposed running a Talgo trainset between Los Angeles Union Station and Las Vegas, but the project was delayed by an environmental study and finally spiked when Amtrak teetered on the brink of bankruptcy in 2002. Subsequent proposals to provide an alternative to congested Interstate 15 included Union Pacific and BNSF Railway tracks with an overnight luxury cruiseliner and the Las Vegas-based X Train, which negotiated a now-cancelled agreement with UP but has been unable to reach one with BNSF for a Fullerton, Calif., terminus.