GOVERNOR’S OFFICE NEWS RELEASE:
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.”
In 2004, the CNIMP, under the sponsorship of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT), and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) commenced an environmental impact statement (EIS) under federal law and an environmental impact report (EIR) under California law for the 269-mile maglev project to operate between Las Vegas, Nevada and Anaheim, California via the California Inland Empire cities of Ontario, Victorville and Barstow. 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).
