Bechtel Submits Sole High-Speed-Train Scheme : Transportation: The firm proposed a magnetic-levitation system that would whisk riders between Anaheim and Las Vegas at nearly 300 m.p.h.

SANTA ANA —  Bechtel International Inc. submitted the lone proposal Monday for a $5-billion train system between Anaheim and Las Vegas, but indicated that availability of the needed financing will depend on future feasibility studies.

At press conferences held both in Las Vegas and Santa Ana, officials of the giant San Francisco-based engineering firm unveiled their proposal that includes a frictionless, non-polluting train that would be propelled at speeds approaching 300 m.p.h. by electromagnetic currents. The presentations were made before members of the California-Nevada Super Speed Ground Transportation Commission and the news media.

The bistate panel had set Monday as the deadline for submission of proposals for the Anaheim-Las Vegas rail line. Last week two other firms, Morrison-Knudsen and Bombardier Corp., pulled out of the competition, saying that the lack of public financing for environmental planning made the project “excessively risky” to would-be financial backers.

Bechtel, one of the world’s most politically influential firms, also met the commission’s requirement Monday of a $500,000 good-faith deposit.

However, the 265-mile project faces many hurdles, including environmental clearances, approval by both the Nevada and California legislatures and governors, and further feasibility studies after the bistate panel awards a franchise, probably in August.

“We have reached a very important plateau in the development and operation of the California/Nevada Super Speed Train process,” said Las Vegas City Councilman Arnie Adamsen, who chairs the bistate commission.

“It is exciting to know that within seven years, millions of people could be riding a relatively noiseless, pollution-free vehicle across the California-Nevada terrain at speeds approaching 300 m.p.h.”

Orange County Supervisor Don R. Roth, the commission’s vice chairman, a zealous proponent of the magnetic-levitation train, unabashedly referred to receipt of Bechtel’s proposal as a signal event in transportation history.

And Angie Papadakis of Long Beach, a bistate commission member, said Bechtel’s proposal is “going to propel us into the 21st Century. . . . We are going to get out of gridlock, we’re going to get out of wing-lock and we’re going to get out of frustration. And we’re going to clean up the air with this new mode of transportation.”

Bechtel officials said they expect the C. Itoh Co. of Japan to be a key financial partner in the venture, providing funds from Japanese investors. The firm’s proposal also envisions Amtrak providing operation, maintenance and marketing services for fees to be negotiated.

Bechtel would build the two-guideway train system, using a maglev vehicle and technology provided by Transrapid International, a West German company that operates a maglev system on a 20-mile test track in Emsland, West Germany. Maglev technology was invented in the United States, but cutbacks in federal research grants curtailed further American efforts in 1974.

The West Germans have yet to deploy the train, although it is planned to link the Cologne and Dusseldorf airports.

The train is sometimes dubbed the “gambler’s special.” Orange County’s Roth attempted to deflect potential criticism from anti-gambling religious groups. “I’m whisking them away from that sin city” to Disneyland, he said.

Officials at Disneyland, Roth said, already have talked to him about having a 9 a.m. train from Las Vegas dubbed the “Disneyland Special.”

Ervon Koenig, Bechtel’s vice president and manager of marketing and business development for transportation, said up to 5 million round-trip passengers a year are expected by the year 2000.

Critics, however, contend that the train will do little to relieve freeway congestion and is unlikely to make a profit, forcing both states’ legislatures to make concessions that will cost taxpayers money.

Indeed, Bechtel’s estimated per-mile construction costs are lower than those of either the Disney World monorail in Florida or the planned McDonnell Douglas-John Wayne Airport monorail, according to Montreal-based Bombardier Corp.

Koenig said Monday that the financing for the Anaheim-Las Vegas project may have to include benefit assessments levied on businesses along the route, and he conceded that this could be interpreted as a form of public financing even though the project, by law, is supposed to be completely privatized.

Bechtel officials defended the concept, however, saying that capturing the value-added tax increments is justified because the train will increase tax revenues for communities along the route.

In addition, Bechtel officials said, the Federal Railway Administration and communities along the route may contribute transportation planning dollars raised from local sales taxes adopted by voters in Riverside and San Bernardino counties to help fund transportation improvements.

Some of the financing, Bechtel said, would be through the sale of tax-exempt bonds. Such financing has been approved in Congress, although Congress has not yet acted on legislation to free federal highway rights of way along the proposed route.

Without development rights and other incentives, Bechtel officials said, projected fare box revenues would not cover construction costs and loan interest.

Under Bechtel’s proposal, the maglev train would make either seven or eight stops between Anaheim and Las Vegas, depending on whether the final route is through Riverside or Ontario. Future branch lines would take passengers to Palmdale, Palm Springs and Santa Ana, with a link to John Wayne Airport.

Tickets for the 75-minute ride would cost about 30% less than commercial airline tickets for the same route, Bechtel officials said, or about $100 to $120 round trip.

Citing studies done by the Canadian Institute for Ground Transportation for the bistate commission, Roth said the maglev train would create up to 25,000 permanent jobs in Southern California. Bechtel officials said the project would add $370 million to $700 million a year to the local economy.

BACKGROUND

San Francisco-based Bechtel International is a subsidiary of the Bechtel Group, a $4.5-billion-a-year company with nearly 20,000 employees worldwide. One of the world’s most politically influential engineering and construction management firms, Bechtel has built or engineered rail transit systems in such cities as Atlanta and Washington, including the Bay Area Rapid Transit system in San Francisco. Its most successful light-rail project has been the San Diego Trolley. Proposed Super-Speed Train Bechtel International Inc. has submitted its proposal to build a $5-billion rail link between Anaheim and Las Vegas, using magnetic-levitation technology. Under the proposal, the maglev train would make seven or eight stops between Anaheim and Las Vegas. The route could either pass through Riverside or Ontario. Future branch lines could go to Palmdale, Palm Springs, Santa Ana and John Wayne Airport. Source: Bechtel International Inc.