DesertXpress, a high speed passenger rail system between Las Vegas, Nevada and Southern California, could break ground by early next year. The effort recently received approval of their draft Environmental Impact Statement from the Federal Railroad Administration, and public hearing are now being held.
DesertXpress plans to lay exclusive tracks along Interstate 15 for trains that will reach 150 miles per hour and will make the 180-mile trip between Las Vegas and Victorville, California in an hour and twenty minutes. The service is forecasted to carry over 10 million people per year by 2015 and over 16 million people by 2030. And the tracks are planned to extend another 50 miles to meet the voter-approved California High Speed Rail System link to Palmdale, making for a large interstate network.
