Amtrak drumming up support for new line

      Sitting in thickly upholstered chairs, they gazed out panoramic windows, first at lumberyards and industrial buildings, then at the hotels of the Strip and then at open desert and mountains.
      Government and business leaders drank wine and ate hors d'oeuvres as guests Wednesday night of the Amtrak on a short demonstration ride to Primm. They were the first of what officials with the national passenger rail company hope will be many riders out of the downtown Las Vegas station on a new luxury passenger liner.
      But whether the new train will ever shuttle the tourists Amtrak envisions between Los Angeles and Southern Nevada is up in the air, probably reliant on the financial support of the gaming industry.
      "I don't think we have the ability to get any funding from the government, even though the government subsidizes every other form of transportation," said Sig Rogich, a Las Vegas political and public relations consultant hired by Amtrak. "But we're not looking for that."
      What Amtrak is looking for would be worth $10 million a year, the expected cost of operating the new daily service, plus a $6 million one-time cost of building track around the agricultural inspection station in Yermo, Calif.
      Amtrak does not expect cash from the resorts, Rogich said. Instead, it is hoping the hotels will buy blocks of seats on the new train to market them to their own guests. The rail company has no firm commitments at this point but also has not been turned down by any of the hotels, Rogich said.
      A poll commissioned by Rogich Communications Group and Amtrak found 62 percent of 225 gaming and business leaders would be willing to consider some sort of financial support of the service.
      "Anything that brings people in -- in this case in a fun and interesting way -- would be a good thing," said Mirage Resorts Inc. spokesman Alan Feldman.
      Mandated by Congress to operate without federal subsidies by 2002, Amtrak ends its old passenger rail service to Las Vegas this week -- the sparsely ridden Desert Wind, which ran three times a week out of Los Angeles, stopping in Las Vegas after 7 1/2 hours on its way to Chicago.
      The proposed new service is expected to make it to Las Vegas in a five to 5 1/2 hours, without the Desert Wind's old stops in Fullerton, Victorville and Barstow, Calif.
      The route would be run by a Spanish-built Talgo Pendular passenger train, with a high-tech suspension system that is said to offer a smoother ride and reduce the effects of centrifugal force on passengers when the train rounds curves.
      On-board amenities would include television monitors offering first-run movies, outlets for laptop computers, cellular phones, a lounge and dining cars. Riders Wednesday night watched a video of the late Telly Savalas teaching blackjack strategy, as a sample of what tourists could be shown en route.
      Round-trip tickets would be priced at about $100, according to Amtrak. It hopes to initiate the new service in 1998 and estimates that it would carry 350,000 passengers a year.
      Amtrak's pitch to the business community is a turn-about from its early approach. The rail company said that state or local government financial support would be necessary for the new service, when they first began discussing the new service in August. Government officials reacted indifferently at the time, citing higher priorities for the state's limited funds for transportation projects.
      Rogich, a former political adviser to President Bush, and Thalia Dondero, a former Clark County commissioner who also is consulting Amtrak, now appear to have converted many government leaders. They presented a proclamation from Gov. Bob Miller in support of the new service and a video of U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., offering support.
      In other states, Amtrak continues to work with local and state governments to salvage unprofitable routes. Amtrak officials said they expect no such help in Nevada, although they wouldn't turn it down.
      "We are trying to be as flexible as we can about establishing partnerships," said Celeste Pinto McLain, an Amtrak board member.