The Vegas Train

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City officials have jumped on board with a proposal to run regular train service between Southern California and Las Vegas.

Fullerton's downtown station is one of the few stops on the proposed service's route, and city officials see an opportunity to hit the jackpot with Vegas-bound travellers taking advantage of downtown businesses.

The service has been dubbed the "X Train" by Las Vegas Railway Express Inc., the private company looking to start trains rolling in late 2012.

The ride would take about 4½ hours from Fullerton to the train's arrival in downtown Las Vegas.

Las Vegas Railway Express Chief Executive Officer Michael Barron said his company has made Fullerton its starting point because of the city's historic Santa Fe Railway station, downtown's cafés and bars, and most importantly, its central location in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.

With all the cars headed up and down I-15 I don't know why this hasn't been done before now. The track is all there - you can see BNSF and UP freight trains moving along the freeway all the way to Vegas, so if they can negotiate a good deal on track rights, this should be a pretty easy thing to set up.

If the hotels in Downtown Las Vegas are smart they'd also get behind this, because the train station for all these people will be in downtown, not on The Strip. They could really pick up some business if 1,100 people step off the train at their front door.

I probably wouldn't take the train every time I went to Vegas, but I'd definitely try it at least once.