High-Speed Rail Proposed to Link L.A., Ontario

After nearly two years of deliberations, regional transportation officials have settled on a route linking West Los Angeles and Ontario International Airport for the first leg of a proposed high-speed railway, and formally asked Congress this week for money to begin planning.

The 45-mile first segment of the maglev train system, so called because it would be powered by a largely untested magnetic levitation system, would cost at least $5 billion, generate top speeds of nearly 250 miles per hour and potentially whisk passengers end-to-end in about 30 minutes.

Officials at the Southern California Assn. of Governments tout the proposed first segment as the foundation of what could become a nearly 300-mile network of high-speed, magnetically powered trains crisscrossing the region. Planners envision the day when maglev links the Ontario airport to Los Angeles International Airport, and possibly to other airports and communities throughout Southern California.

But under the proposal, the first line, which would run down the middle of Interstate 10 and open in about 10 years, would fail to go all the way to LAX. The leg would stop instead near the I-10 and San Diego Freeway interchange, though officials hope to extend it to the airport later.

The proposal ends months of struggle at SCAG, which has pursued plans for the system despite fading interest from the federal government and criticism of the proposed line as an ineffective boondoggle.

The proposal was encouraged by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who has expressed interest in a high-speed project but insisted that local officials agree on a route before she pushes for more money in the Senate. The SCAG board spent months hashing out 32 proposed routes for the railway.

A line from West Los Angeles to Ontario was finally judged to be the most cost-effective, winning out over proposals to build the first leg between Los Angeles and Orange County or Palmdale. Mark Pisano, executive director of SCAG, said the initial leg fits the goal of increasing usage of regional airports other than LAX. Pisano said building the maglev line could help boost the number of passengers using the Ontario airport from less than 10 million to 30 million yearly.

SCAG is seeking $60 million from Congress for planning and environmental studies. The agency expects that it also would need about $30 million from local public sources for planning. Money to build and operate the system, the balance of the projected $5-billion cost, would be sought from the private sector.

“This is a vital first step, a real move in the right direction,” said Robin Lowe, a Hemet city councilwoman on the SCAG board. Lowe said the railway would help alleviate freeway gridlock.

“The speed is the big advantage over anything else,” she said. “People are going to flock to this thing.”

Many transit experts question the practicality of maglev, however, citing concerns about earthquake safety and the viability of maglev technology that is almost totally untested. No maglev railways exist in the United States, and existing lines in Japan, China and Germany are relatively new.

Another issue is that the maglev railway would be incompatible with the state’s plan to build a high-speed rail network potentially connecting Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego. Trains on the state’s proposed $25-billion railway, which would not use maglev but technology akin to that on the French high-speed rail system, would never be able to connect with SCAG’s regional system.

SCAG has kept at its plans despite a lack of firm backing from Washington. The SCAG maglev plan failed to make a final cut in 2001 when the federal government promised nearly $1 billion to Pittsburgh and Baltimore instead.