COUNTYWIDE : Firms Meet Deadline on Fast-Train Plans

One Canadian and two U.S. firms met Wednesday’s deadline and filed letters of intent to bid on the proposed high-speed train between Las Vegas and Anaheim, project officials said.

Bechtel International of San Francisco, Morrison-Knudsen Co. of Boise, Idaho, and Bombardier Corp. of Canada met the 5 p.m. deadline and consequently will compete for the right to privately finance, build and operate the 300-m.p.h. train, which is expected cost as much as $4 billion.

Bechtel, in partnership with West Germany’s Transrapid firm, is advocating use of a magnetically levitated train that is going through final speed trials at a test track near Hamburg.

Bombardier is proposing use of the French Tres Grande Vitesse, a steel-wheeled train in service mostly between Paris and Lyon.

Morrison-Knudsen has not indicated which technology it intends to propose, according to Paul Taylor, executive director of the California-Nevada Super-Speed Train Commission.

The firms have until July 15 to submit a plan proposing the route, the stations to be served and 100%private financing, Taylor said. Construction is expected to take from 1993 through 1997.

However, several hurdles remain, such as acquiring rights of way and completing environmental impact studies.

Orange County Supervisor Don R. Roth, a member of the bistate commission, is scheduled to lead a delegation to Europe in March to ride the West German and French trains. He has asked several political supporters to join him at their own expense.

Bechtel last week contributed $750 to Roth’s reelection campaign. Roth has been touting Bechtel’s proposal to use “mag-lev” technology for more than a year but has said he is also open to other possibilities.