Why is there no train service from Los Angeles to Las Vegas?

Question

Why is there no train service from Los Angeles to Las Vegas?

Answer 1

Basically because Southwest put them out of business.

Answer 2

There had been, but it was discontinued some years ago due to low ridership and the cost of operating it.  Remember that Amtrak is under continuous scrutiny by the US Congress, which wants to reduce the subsidy paid to Amtrak.  Unfortunately routes get cut from time to time.

With that said, if either California or Nevada was willing to pay money to Amtrak to start up a new service, Amtrak would likely be delighted to do so.

Answer 3

Couple of reasons.  One is limited choice of railroads.  The only rail line in southern Nevada is the Union Pacific Salt Lake-L.A. line, single track and quite busy with freight that's slow moving because of the mountains.  

The other is geography.  The route is almost entirely covered with mountains, which turns the existing rail route into a pretzel.  Fire up Google Earth, check "Places of interest/transportation/rail" and you'll see what I mean.  It's neither direct nor fast.

The mountains also make it almost impossible to plug into traffic from the Central Valley/Sac/Bay Area - Tehachapi Pass is in the way, and that is the most snarled railroad in the USA. In 30 years only one Amtrak has been through there, it was a detour and it only happened because the president of Amtrak was on board.

Traffic from the east (Phoenix) - same problem.

To get travel times bearable, a whole new railroad would have to be built.  That makes a lot of sense since California is getting ready to build a high speed rail network.  It sure makes sense for the railroad to be electric, because there's loads of power around there - Cajon and Tehachapi are two of the five designated Wind Resource Areas in California, and there's Hoover Dam.  This railroad would be green :)  It would also be about $10 billion.  If only Vegas had money... :)

Answer 4

They are still kicking around the idea of a Maglev train.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/06...

Answer 5

Simple economcs.

The demand for the facility was far outweighed by the cost of providing it.  

Answer 6

they cut their los angeles to los vegas service due to buget cuts and low ridership