High-Speed Train Panel Nearing End of the Line

The California-Nevada Super Speed Train Commission, once on a fast track toward building an Anaheim-to-Las Vegas maglev route, is on the verge of power failure.

Today in Anaheim, the panel will hold its last legally authorized meeting, at least for the eight California members, because Gov. Pete Wilson vetoed a bill two months ago that would have extended the commission’s authority for another year.

But members of the panel have not given up. Despite a recent decision by Bechtel Corp. to pull out of the $5-billion effort due to recession-related difficulties, the commission is banking on Wilson to reverse himself and sign an emergency authorization bill by March.

At today’s meeting, commissioners will discuss what to do with a $500,000 fee Bechtel previously paid to obtain a conditional maglev franchise. And, for the first time, they will consider ways to bring some limited public financing to the table in order to entice companies, including Bechtel, to rebid the project.

Such a move would involve a dramatic policy shift because current law requires a totally privatized effort.

Commission Chairman Don R. Roth, an Orange County supervisor and the project’s biggest booster, said he remains convinced that the project is both feasible and desirable, despite having many critics.

“It’s still righteous and will be built,” Roth said. “But it will be public and private partnership, which is a different ballgame.”

Bechtel had been the only company to bid on the project. Rivals dropped out after deciding that the Anaheim-Las Vegas effort was not financially feasible without some public funding.

Under a new bill carried by Assemblyman Tom Umberg (D-Garden Grove) and Assembly Transportation Committee Chairman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar), any anticipated use of public funds would require the high-speed train commission to reopen the bidding and not simply award the franchise to Bechtel.

A possible entrant is the French-built TGV, which utilizes more conventional technology instead of magnetic levitation and propulsion.

The new federal transportation bill signed by President Bush on Wednesday provides $600 million for new maglev research, but Roth acknowledged that those funds are earmarked for U.S. research, not the German-based maglev system the California-Nevada commission chose last year for its Anaheim-Las Vegas route.

Meanwhile, an aide to Katz said this week that the governor has indicated a willingness to reconsider his veto of the bill extending the commission’s authority.

In his earlier veto message, Wilson questioned the wisdom of the project, citing its inability to attract the necessary financing to date and his preference for high-speed rail systems that would meet a higher percentage of California travelers’ existing, unmet needs.

A major question remains, however, about the Legislature’s willingness to back use of public funds for the route, often dubbed the “gambler’s special.”