Posted on 11/26/2012 8:15:42 AM PST by BenLurkin
After striking an agreement with Union Pacific Railroad last week, the Las Vegas Railway Express is one step closer to bringing to life the X Train, a luxurious "party train" complete with big screen TVs, recliners and two ultra lounges.
"The whole idea is when you get on a train, you feel like you're in Las Vegas," said Michael Barron, president and CEO of the $100 million venture that hopes to launch its maiden voyage on New Year's Eve 2013. "It's essentially a nightclub on wheels."
The X Train proposal calls for an Amtrak crew aboard a 576-passenger train that runs at standard speeds on traditional tracks.
It would start in Fullerton, Calif. — already home to an Amtrak station and part of Southern California's Metrolink commuter train network — and end in downtown Las Vegas.
A conditional agreement with Union Pacific, approved Nov. 16, will allow the company to use a rail line that's currently limited to freight trains and hasn't served passengers since Amtrak discontinued its Desert Wind service in 1997 due to low ridership.
Tickets for the adults-only train would cost $99 each way and include a meal and beverage, with plenty more alcohol available for purchase. To keep ticket prices low, the company would try to make money booking Las Vegas hotels and entertainment for passengers.
With initial plans for one trip a day on Thursday, Friday, Sunday, and Monday, Barron believes he can attract tourists weary of the weekend traffic gridlock and perhaps hung over from their weekend revelry.
(Excerpt) Read more at philly.com ...
I honestly can’t see this succeeding. If I’m riding a train, in regards to work, I’d rather have a plug-in for my laptop and a working wifi connection.
No sense taking your laptop on a trip like this....it would just get stolen.
It has potential. The I-15 from Vegas to LA was a nightmare yesterday.
If I was a kid it would be hell a fun! Great idea. If I was a parent? One word. Worried!! lol.
Is Nevada a CCW state? :)
The article dosn’t state whether the party train would be smoker friendly.
This isn’t for folks going to work.
It is to replace people driving to Vegas for vacation time.
The business on the strip would rather people arrive without cars and keep the dollars close.
It has potential. The I-15 from Vegas to LA was a nightmare yesterday.
Not for $200 round trip. $400 for a couple. Makes even less sense if you are going to Vegas with a group of friends.
Driving to Fullerton to catch the train and pay that much for a train ticket? No thanks.
Why drive to Fullerton when you can take the train to get there?
This sounds like a turkey. Las Vegas is three and a half hours from Fullerton by car. Sure, gasoline is expensive, but for an average car, the round trip is far less expensive than the train ride. And the “adults only” policy will exclude families.
Las Vegas is also spread out, so if you want to go somewhere other than the somewhat seedy downtown area, where the railroad station is located, you would have to take a bus, hail a cab or rent a car.
I would never drive back to Los Angeles from Vegas after a major holiday. If faced with that sort of traffic, I would have shun-piked through Kelso and 29 Palms, and maybe even taken the Palms to Pines Highway.
Good question!
In 1989 I had a proposal to lease a small group of 747’s that converted them into Vegas Casinos that allowed the passengers could start gambling over states that allowed waging, on the trip to Atlantic City and Vegas..
However, at that time too few states allowed it to make mid country takeoffs limited the market.. Now, several airlines in Asia are doing exactly that, one of which I was negotiating with..
I lived in Vegas from 1995 to 1998 (thanks, US Air Force).
I recall we dreaded the long weekends, because town would be packed full of “California drivers.”
This has potential.
Okay, I've got one:
If this had been built in the '80s, Sam Kinison might - MIGHT still be alive.
So the idea of a Mustang Ranch car for this train has precedent?
Kinison died going to laughlin for a Stand up Gig, not Vegas, he would still be dead. Damn is’s been 20 years already.
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