Las Vegas Railway Express, branded as "X Train," was an American rail transport company that plans to operate passenger rail service between Southern California and Las Vegas, Nevada. In May, 2017, the Las Vegas Railway Express sold its operation and branding to X Rail Entertainment.
Video Las Vegas Railway Express
Company
Led by Michael Barron, an entrepreneur largely involved in real estate, the company was formed in January 2010 from a combination of two previous ventures, one working in promotional merchandising and one involved in buying defaulted mortgages. It began to promote the idea of new rail service from California to Las Vegas as early as March 2009. The company originally planned for service to begin in mid-2011, but at the time, the company was not close to establishing operating agreements with Amtrak, BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad, all of which operate trackage along the planned route from Los Angeles Union Station to Las Vegas.
In March 2012, the state of Nevada issued final approval for the service to operate, and in May, the company began issuing stock; by September, only $2.3 million out of an estimated $35 million in start-up costs had been raised by stock sales. In November, LVRE signed an agreement with Union Pacific allowing trains to operate over UP trackage from Daggett, California, to Las Vegas. According to the terms of the agreement, LVRE was to pay UP $56 million for track improvements, including additional capacity and relocating UP facilities in Las Vegas. As of the end of November, LVRE had yet to sign its operating agreement with Amtrak, which also was to include LVRE's rights to travel on BNSF trackage. By the end of November 2012, the company had spent about $12 million, with a further public offering of stock planned to raise the $100 million more necessary to begin operations.
In January 2013, LVRE announced that it had selected Orlando, Florida-based company Rail Enterprises, Inc. to refurbish rolling stock, including upgrading interiors, mechanical systems and furnishings. It still planned to begin service to Las Vegas in early 2014.
In November 2013, the company said that, due to an undisclosed "off balance sheet financing" agreement, it had terminated its operating agreement with Union Pacific, which would have required LVRE to have paid UP $66 million for track improvements before the UP would allow passenger service on its track.
In December 2013, the company announced its intention to begin seeking public-private partnerships to operate upscale passenger train service on routes around the country. It said that deliveries of its refurbished passenger cars would begin later in the month.
In October 2014, the LVRE said that it had begun engineering a new route between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, through Mojave and Barstow, California, which would avoid the congested rail crossing of the Cajon Pass.
Maps Las Vegas Railway Express
Service proposals
Originally, the service was planned to operate five days a week between downtown Los Angeles and Las Vegas, making a daily round trip Thursday through Monday, with an increase to 40 trips weekly planned for five years after the start of operations. As of late 2012, service had been planned to begin in late 2013, operating on Thursdays, Fridays, Sundays and Mondays, with a one-way trip time of about five and a half hours and a passenger capacity of 576. On 28 November, the company announced that regular service would begin on 4 January 2014, following a single 31 December 2013 inaugural special trip. Amtrak was to provide operating crews.
Rolling stock
By November 2012, the company had purchased twelve passenger cars from unidentified sellers, with refurbishment expected to begin by the end of the year, though this was later pushed back to an undetermined date in early 2013. Rebuilding work will take place in Las Vegas at a cost of about $1 million per car. By the time operations begin, the railroad's trainset will consist of sixteen passenger cars, pulled by three EMD F59PH locomotives. Twelve cars will be first-class passenger cars, with amenities including assigned seating, televisions and a bar area. There will also be several dedicated lounge cars and a service car with crew quarters and additional supplies.
See also
- Desert Wind, an Amtrak train that operated between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, and on to Utah.
- Z-Train, another proposed private rail service between Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
- XpressWest, a proposed high-speed rail service between Victorville, California and Las Vegas.
- California-Nevada Interstate Maglev, a proposed maglev train between Anaheim, California and Las Vegas.
References
External links
- Official website
Source of article : Wikipedia
0 Comments