COUNTYWIDE : Arguments Added to Fast-Train Case

On a battleground where public support counts, County Supervisor Don R. Roth has prepared a message to the California-Nevada Super Speed Train Commission supporting a Las Vegas-to-Anaheim high-speed train route.

The message will be in the form of a resolution that the Orange County Board of Supervisors is expected to adopt at its weekly meeting Tuesday.

Roth, Anaheim’s former mayor, has been drumming up support for the Anaheim terminus, claiming that it will produce more riders than a competing route proposed through Palmdale and the San Fernando Valley.

The resolution says that the proposed Anaheim route could serve the 2.2 million residents in Orange County and the 34 million tourists that visit each year.

The super-speed train to Anaheim, Roth said, promises financial success because it would link Orange County with the Pomona Valley, the Inland Empire and a possible new international airport at the site of George Air Force Base. That airport would serve travelers outside the Los Angeles metropolitan area.

This, Roth’s resolution says, “would relieve airport overcrowding at Los Angeles International, John Wayne and Ontario. . . . “ The high-speed train could be connected to Amtrak trains bound for San Diego and downtown Los Angeles, the resolution suggests.

In his message, Roth said the Las Vegas-to-Anaheim route would allow possible stops in Barstow, Victorville and Ontario before concluding its trip at a possible terminal next to Anaheim Stadium and the Anaheim Amtrak station.

The bistate commission was created 18 months ago to examine the feasibility of the high-speed train proposal. Members are scheduled to meet Oct. 27 at Los Angeles International Airport to recommend a specific site for the Southern California terminus.