Countywide : Bechtel Commits $12 Million for Train

Plans to link Las Vegas and Anaheim with a 300-m.p.h. “super train” advanced with a $12-million commitment from Bechtel Corp., county officials said Monday.

Supervisor Don R. Roth reported the financial commitment from the San Francisco-based engineering and construction firm during a presentation about the super train project at Monday’s Orange County Transportation Commission meeting.

Roth said the money will be spent on preliminary design and environmental work.

The commission later voted to earmark $100,000 for studies of how local train or monorail service could be linked to the planned super train terminal.

A 17.4-acre parcel near Anaheim stadium and next to the existing Amtrak station has been proposed as the site for the super train terminal. “With all the projections, this is going to have to be as big as an airline terminal and will serve as a rail hub for Orange County,” commission Executive Director Stanley T. Oftelie said. “Bechtel’s commitment gives these plans a lot more substance than they’ve enjoyed before.”

Although they support the high-speed train, Drivers for Highway Safety--the group better known for its opposition to car-pool lanes--used Monday’s meeting as an opportunity to attack the plans for traditional local commuter rail service. They argued that the plans are not feasible.

Roth, however, was unmoved. He cited an effort by Irvine, Santa Ana and several other Orange County cities to link monorail or other proposed rail services to the super-train terminal.

Roth also predicted that Bechtel, in partnership with Transrapid, a German firm, will be the only bidder for the $4-billion super-train project. The California-Nevada High Speed Train Commission, which is composed of officials from both states, voted earlier this month to proceed with the project, and has asked that bids be filed by interested firms next month.

Under current law, the project must be 100% privately financed. The selected bidder is expected to reap substantial profits from ticket sales and concessions.

Preliminary studies indicate that the Anaheim-Las Vegas route will draw 6.5 million passenger boardings annually and create between 24,000 and 53,000 jobs, up to 47% of them in Southern California.