LAS VEGAS-A Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) signed by the Federal Railroad Administration on March 18th represents a major milestone for the nation’s first dedicated high speed passenger rail system. The project, being developed by DesertXpress Enterprises, LLC, will connect Las Vegas to Southern California and could break ground by early next year, according to Tony Marnell, Chairman/CEO of Marnell Consulting, LLC, which is an investor in DesertXpress Enterprises, LLC.

Operating at speeds of up to 150 mph on exclusive tracks along Interstate 15, DesertXpress trains will make the 180-mile trip between Las Vegas and Victorville, California in an hour and twenty minutes. According to the EIS, DesertXpress is forecasted to carry over 10 million people per year by 2015 and over 16 million people by 2030. Ultimately, the system will have a capacity of more than 60 million people per year.

“This project will provide significant benefits to both California and Nevada and is coming on line at the perfect time, with the government recognizing the need to find viable, alternative solutions for cleaner and more efficient modes of transportation,” said Marnell.

During the last six years, DesertXpress Enterprises has invested over $25 million in private funding to complete all the work necessary for the EIS. “This investment has positioned the project to serve as a significant contributor to the economic vitality of California and Nevada. During the build-out period of approximately four years, the project will create thousands of jobs and a multi-billion dollar positive economic impact for both states,” said Sig Rogich, President of Rogich Communications Group, a partner and spokesman for DesertXpress Enterprises.

“The project is estimated to reduce up to 360 million pounds of CO₂ emissions in the Interstate 15 corridor by greatly reducing automobile travel and replacing it with energy-efficient mass transportation in one of America’s most congested transportation corridors,” Rogich said.

“Going forward, we think this project can be the model for other similar projects throughout America, demonstrating how private enterprise can partner with government to develop solutions that fulfill needs that may otherwise not be feasible in today’s economy,” Marnell said.

According to an independent study prepared for the Southern California Logistics Rail Authority by BSL Management Consultants of the Lloyd’s Register Group, considered a leader in transportation studies in the European Union and worldwide, the DesertXpress project “is clearly the most practical and viable alternative for the corridor,” compared with the CA-NV Maglev alternative. The study further states that high speed rail will provide “reasonable high speed at a much lower cost.” Additionally, from a planning and timing perspective, in contrast to the DesertXpress solution, the CA-NV Maglev project is depending entirely upon federal funding just to be able to begin the EIS process that the DesertXpress project has just completed after six years of privately funded work. More detailed information on the BSL Management study is available by visiting here

“Maglev has been a thirty-year study of a system that only operates in one other area in the world, which is Shanghai. And we believe the reason it hasn’t been further developed in other parts of the world is that according to the BSL Study, the latest cost estimates by public authorities in Germany and the United States put the cost of construction for a Maglev line in the range of $60 million to $199 million per mile – which would bring the cost of the proposed 260-mile Maglev line to US $16 billion to $52 billion – making it the most costly transportation project in U.S. history. On the other hand, the DesertXpress project is estimated to cost from $3.5 to $4 billion, and high speed rail lines are a proven commodity and are successfully operating all over Europe and other parts of the world,” said Rogich.

This first phase to Victorville will be designed to allow DesertXpress to extend its service to the voter-approved California High Speed Rail System link to Palmdale, which is situated approximately 50 miles from the Victorville station. DesertXpress officials said that by designing the system to share existing transportation corridors, primarily Interstate 15, it avoids environmental and community impacts in the highly traveled corridor between Nevada and Southern California.

“The concept of shared transportation corridors maximizes the people-carrying capacity of the freeway right-of-way without the enormous expense and overwhelming environmental impact of adding freeway lanes,” Marnell said. “The majority of travelers who use DesertXpress will represent a major shift in the American mode of transportation. By replacing private automobile travel with energy-efficient, environmentally friendly public transportation, Americans will make a strong statement about the nation’s travel trends, environmental concerns and energy challenges.”

The Draft EIS for this project was the result of the collaboration of several professionals at the local, state and federal levels, including the Federal Railroad Administration, Surface Transportation Board, Bureau of Land Management, Federal Highway Administration, National Park Service, Nevada Department of Transportation, Caltrans, and other state and local agencies.

The public hearings are scheduled for Tuesday, April 28, 2009 in Las Vegas, Wednesday, April 29, 2009 in Barstow and Thursday, April 30, 2009 in Victorville.