News: Las Vegas Monorail restarts operations
Flights > News > # 336 (01/01/2005)
Following a period of technical teething troubles, monorail officials have said that Clark County granted the approvals necessary to allow Bombardier Transportation, the company contracted to build and operate the monorail, to resume operating the 4-mile transportation system along the east side of the Las Vegas Strip.
James Gibson, chairman and CEO of Transit Systems Management, the project’s management firm, thanked Las Vegas locals, visitors, hotel partners, bondholders and others for their support and patience since the monorail operators closed the system on Sepember 8th 2004:
“We are obviously pleased to get the Las Vegas Monorail back on line,” Gibson said. “The results of this recommissioning period have given us every confidence that the necessary changes have been made and that the system is safe and reliable. We look forward to the monorail meeting its mission and carrying millions of passengers for many years to come. We think there’s no better way to thank everyone for their support than to invite Las Vegans and the visitors to Las Vegas to ride the monorail as our guests for five days during the holiday season.”
Raymond T. Betler, president of Bombardier's Total Transit Systems, said,
“We are extremely pleased that the Las Vegas Monorail will re-open in time for the holiday season and extend our sincere appreciation to our customer, the Las Vegas Monorail Company, and Clark County for their close cooperation during the interruption of monorail service. We also wish to thank the Las Vegas community for their patience during this period and look forward to being part of the monorail’s long-term success.”
The monorail re-opened its seven stations simultaneously on 24th December, and offered long suffering Las Vegas residents and tourists five days' worth of free rides.
The system will now operate from 7am until 2am daily, with a single ride costing $3, and a fully day pass costing $10. The initial 4-mile route stops at the following seven stations:
- MGM Grand
- Bally’s/Paris
- Flamingo/Caesars Palace
- Harrah’s/Imperial Palace
- Las Vegas Convention Center
- Las Vegas Hilton; and
- The Sahara.
The system has cost some $640m to build, and runs along the Las Vegas resort corridor, traveling at a top speed of 50 mph.
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