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11e9-97e5-97e5cdf84896.html Vegas-Palmdale high-speed rail line is coming By ALLISON GATLIN Valley Press Staff Writer Jan 3, 2019 HIGH-SPEED FUTURE — Palmdale and other regional officials recently visited the Florida home of the Brightline intercity passenger rail line, soon to be known as Virgin Trains USA, as the company is building a high-speed rail line with service between Las Vegas and Victorville, with plans to extend the line to Palmdale. Officials were impressed with the rail line’s exceptional customer experience and the economic development occurring around the stations. Contributed PALMDALE — As the region prepares for a future high-speed rail system connection between Las Vegas and Palmdale, officials recently visited the rail line’s Florida operations to see for themselves what the proposed service may entail. Palmdale officials came away from the visit impressed with what Brightline, soon to Page 1 of 4 Vegas-Palmdale high-speed rail line is coming I I avpress.com 1/7/2019 ---PAGE BREAK--- be known as Virgin Trains USA, had to offer. “It was so incredible. It was such a different experience from the rail perspective,” said Michael Behen, strategic initiatives manager for Palmdale’s Public Works Department. Brightline is the Florida private passenger rail company that has plans to provide high- speed rail service between Las Vegas and Victorville, and eventually to Palmdale. The Virgin Group recently announced a minority investment in the company, which will include new branding as Brightline becomes Virgin Trains USA. The firm operates passenger rail service between Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach and is expanding into Orlando and Tampa. Officials visited all three operating stations during their trip. In September, Brightline announced it acquired XpressWest, the high-speed rail project that has a federally approved corridor between Las Vegas and Victorville, with plans to continue the line to Palmdale where it will connect with other transportation services. It will take over development, construction and operation of the proposed high-speed line, which would travel on a 185-mile right-of-way along Interstate 15 in its first phase, with no at-grade or pedestrian crossings. Construction is expected to begin this year and the company plans to begin initial service in 2022, according to a company statement. The visiting officials found the passenger experience on the rail line to be exceptional, what Assistant City Manager J.J. Murphy compared to Disneyland in terms of attention to detail. Brightline’s executives come from the hospitality industry, as opposed to the transportation industry, and their focus is on providing a great customer experience, Mayor Steve Hofbauer said. Page 2 of 4 Vegas-Palmdale high-speed rail line is coming I I avpress.com 1/7/2019 ---PAGE BREAK--- “The mentality of their staff and the experience of the customer are totally different than anything that you’ll see anywhere else. It was very different,” he said. “It was as if you were a premier airline traveler. They treat everyone as a premium customer,” Murphy said. The trains and stations were exceptionally clean and the level of service was akin to what a traveler would find at a five-star hotel, Behen said. The service places “a real emphasis on the person and their experience,” he said. Having traveled by train here and abroad, he said, the Brightline service was “the best system I’ve ridden on. This was by far the ultimate.” The experience began at the stations themselves, which provided user-friendly, interactive services designed to ease passengers through to their trains, even through security checkpoints. “I wanted to be in the station. I felt safe, I felt comfortable,” Behen said. Murphy flew into Ft. Lauderdale for the visit, and took an Uber to Miami where the group was staying, a drive of more than an hour with traffic and at a cost of about $50. On the return trip, however, he took the train from Miami to Ft. Lauderdale at a cost of $20 and a 20 minute trip. That model bodes well for a service to Las Vegas that would take less time and at a cost that would be less than the cost of gas and parking, he said. “It really is a win-win,” Murphy said, with the added benefits of lower emissions and less traffic. “It was good to actually get on their trains, look at their stations and see the development around their stations,” Murphy said. “The transit-oriented development around all three stations were amazing.” Page 3 of 4 Vegas-Palmdale high-speed rail line is coming I I avpress.com 1/7/2019 ---PAGE BREAK--- As Palmdale is in the planning process for its own transportation center, which would combine access for rail — including the California High Speed Rail and Metrolink — bus, ride share services and other means of transportation with housing and commercial development, the multi-modal Brightline stations and surrounding areas were one focus of the visit. Hofbauer praised the way the new development stretched for miles around each station, with the local business community embracing the stations as hubs and spreading the economic impact from there. “It’s not just a train station and a parking lot,” he said. “It was amazing to look at the transformation in just a couple of years that occurred around those stations.” Hofbauer said the ridership on the planned High Desert line could be even greater than originally predicted, as the studies were conducted before the Oakland Raiders NFL team announced their move to Las Vegas beginning with the 2020 season and without considering the growing aerospace industry here. According to the ridership study, with a Palmdale station on the route, roughly 60% of the riders would be from Victorville and 40% from Palmdale, with a 5% increase in ridership overall by extending the line to Palmdale, Hofbauer said. “There’s a new paradigm that happens” when those factors are included, he said. “They fully expect those numbers to increase.” Page 4 of 4 Vegas-Palmdale high-speed rail line is coming I I avpress.com 1/7/2019