Disneyland - Las Vegas Monorail

[KeithS]

Hmmm - here's an interesting one. About a year ago I posted a story in the news section that there was a proposal to build a high-speed monorail / maglev from Disneyland to Las Vegas, and that the US government had awarded the project $30 million for a feasibility study. I personally thought it would never get much further than that.

But then came the Global Financial Crisis and governments around the world began coughing up big chunks of cash to spur the economy, and if you've been following the news this week, you'll know that the US Senate passed the US$787 billion stimulus package.

So what has all this to do with the Disneyland? Well, in that stimulus package, they have included US$1 billion to build the high speed monorail. The idea is that many tourists (especially international tourists) visit LA, go to Disneyland, and then travel on to Las Vegas (I know we did exactly that) - but is there enough demand? Or will it become a white elephant? Will it actually get built?

Time will tell.

[ajp]

I do remember reading this Keith and thinking that it would be a fabulous idea. I honestly believe that it will succeed as long as they price it similar to air travel. If it takes around 3 hours or so to get to Vegas for the same cost and less hassle than air travel, then I can't see why people wouldn't use it. We also did the LA/Vegas run and drove, and this would have been another option. Also if it works, the possibilities of expansion are endless, especially if the casinos see an increase is trade from it, they would be happy to help finance further work in and out of Vegas.

Will it actually get built? is a good question. We seem to live in an age globally when taking risk on massive infrastructure is avoided. I hope it does get built. And we'll definitely be watching this closely for sure.