L.A. County Raises Ante in Bid for Vegas Train : Transit: Commissioners vote to speed up a study of building a light-rail line linking Sylmar with LAX.

Los Angeles County sweetened its offer Wednesday in the fierce competition to become the Southern California terminus of a futuristic, high-speed rail system to Las Vegas.

To raise the chances of a northern San Fernando Valley terminus, the county Transportation Commission voted to study speeding up construction of a light-rail line linking Los Angeles International Airport to Sylmar.

County officials said that link would significantly increase ridership on a Sylmar-to-Las Vegas train, because it would tie the high-speed system to the county’s network of rail lines, three of which are under construction, with several more in the planning stages.

A rival terminal station site is proposed for Anaheim and is supported by officials in Orange and San Bernardino counties.

Ridership on the high-speed train has emerged as a key issue after release of a consultant’s report two weeks ago that said an Anaheim-to-Las Vegas line, also stopping in Ontario, would draw 6.5 million round-trip passengers annually.

A Sylmar-to-Las Vegas line, also stopping in Palmdale, would generate only 2.3 million round-trips a year, the report said.

However, a separate commuter system operating on the same tracks would draw nearly equal numbers of riders--433,000 round-trips a year between Anaheim and Ontario, versus 418,000 annually between Palmdale and Sylmar.

The California-Nevada Super Speed Ground Transportation Commission, created by the two states’ legislatures, is to vote Friday on a Southern California terminus.

But Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar), who heads the bistate commission, suggested late Wednesday that both Sylmar and Anaheim might survive Friday’s vote.

He also said that it was “conceivable that the bistate commission might designate Anaheim as the terminus, but leave open the possibility of getting there through Palmdale and LAX” by traveling through the San Fernando Valley and Los Angeles’ Westside on the San Diego Freeway right of way.

Katz, who also chairs the Assembly Transportation Committee, agreed that the 16-member bistate commission is leaning toward Anaheim, but he said, “the final decision rests with the California Legislature, not the bistate commission.”

Although the $4-billion system would be built with private funds, legislative approval is needed because the trains would travel along the shoulder of interstate highways.

After the County Transportation Commission’s vote to authorize a $225,000 study of the LAX-to-Sylmar rail line, which hitherto was not scheduled to be built for a decade or more, Ray Remy, who represents Mayor Tom Bradley on the commission, expressed confidence that Los Angeles’ bid for the high-speed train would not be voted down Friday.

“I hope and expect that what we will see is a decision to conduct further study on both proposals, especially in light of action taken here today,” he said.

Los Angeles International Airport is close to capacity and “must be relieved, or we will face real serious problems,” said Los Angeles City Council President John Ferraro.

In another development Wednesday, Palmdale officials released a report conceding that a high-speed train passing through their desert city en route between Sylmar and Las Vegas would not generate the ridership of a route originating in Anaheim, but pointed out that the Sylmar route would be 45% less expensive to build.

Also, a line traveling through the Antelope Valley would have fewer environmental problems and could be built in less time than one traveling through San Bernardino and Orange counties, according to the report, which the city commissioned.

The report projected 3.76 million round-trip riders annually on a Sylmar-to-Las Vegas line, about 50% higher than the bistate commission’s consultant has projected, but still much less than the predicted Anaheim ridership.

BACKGROUND

At the urging of Las Vegas casino interests, a bistate commission is studying construction of a $4-billion high-speed train linking the Nevada gambling city and Southern California. Much of the controversy has been over the selection of a Southland terminus. A consultant hired by the commission found that beginning the rail line in Anaheim would generate 6.5 million round-trip passengers annually, while a northern San Fernando Valley terminus would generate 2.3 million passengers.