Las Vegas: Party train won’t be ready for New Year’s Eve 2013

The Las Vegas party train, which was supposed to begin service from Orange County to Las Vegas in time for this coming New Year’s Eve, has been delayed.

Michael Barron, president and chief executive of Las Vegas Railway Express, or X Train, said this week it would be “another year” before the train began regular service between Fullerton and North Las Vegas because the company doesn’t yet have a train station on the Nevada end of the line.

“That process will take about one more year to complete,” a letter to shareholders said. “We have begun the site planning and architectural and civil engineering and now have our preliminary plans into the city to review and approve.”

Barron hopes to put his station in North Las Vegas, which isn’t a city frequented by Southern California visitors. That site is not far from the Craig Road exit off Interstate 15. The proposed site is 11 miles north of center Strip, the intersection that’s home to Bellagio and Caesars Palace.
It’s a 16-minute drive under normal conditions. Barron said the railway would arrange ground transportation.

“The depot is the tall pole in the tent,” Barron said, adding that he hopes to secure City Council approval for his plans in August.

The railroad executive said he would like to run some sort of a special train on New Year’s Eve using a temporary platform. He couldn’t provide any specifics.

“One way or another, we’re going to have some type of party or something like that with that train [on New Year’s Eve],” Barron said.

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