Las Vegas to Victorville bullet train gets bipartisan boost from lawmakers
Four members of the Nevada Legislature have signed a letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to back the XpressWest bullet train from Las Vegas to Victorville, Calif.
Train supporters have pinned their financing hopes on obtaining a $5.5 billion loan from the Federal Railway Administration, with the remaining $1.4 billion supposedly coming from private sources.
The letter, dated March 19, pressed LaHood to approve the loan because “this project is critical to the future of our economy.”
Signing the letter were Assemblyman Pat Hickey, R-Reno; Assembly Speaker Marilyn Kirkpatrick, D-North Las Vegas; state Sen. Mo Denis, D-Las Vegas; and state Sen. Michael Roberson, R-Henderson.
Two weeks ago, another letter to LaHood from Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama advocated killing the project as financially risky and likely to leave taxpayers stuck with losses on the loan.
Contact reporter Tim O’Reiley at
toreiley@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290.
