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IN BUSINESS LAS VEGAS COULD BE RAIL CENTER OF THE WEST RAIL, FROM PAGE 1 said he expects it would cost between $650,000 and $900,000 initially. They plan to approach industry leaders to form an advisory board to guide them on raising the money. Las Vegas could become the West's high-speed rail center if a proposed XpressWest project comes to fruition. Developers want to link Las Vegas and Los Angeles with a high-speed train that would travel through Victorville and Palmdale, Calif. "I still think we're going to be the first in the country to have high-speed rail," Skancke said in a recent exclusive interview with VEGAS INC. "If we're going to have high-speed rail in this country, I think the research, the education, the student exchange programs and the faculty exchange programs should be done here in the West because we're the pioneers on this." Skancke, who is a consultant to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority on transportation issues, also is executive director of the Western High Speed Rail Alliance, an organization comprised of transportation groups from Nevada, Utah, Arizona and Colorado. The alliance hopes eventually to build a high-speed rail network that connects Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Phoenix and Denver, an effort would the organization acknowledges take decades and billions of dollars to complete. Skancke views the planned XpressWest line between Las Vegas and Southern California a crucial first step. But high-speed rail is new to this country. Where would the engineers, particularly Teng is highly regarded in China, at Beijing's and Jiaotong University, which has institutes dedicated to transportation, electric power, civil engineering architecture. The university has been involved in high- speed rail education for 20 years. Teng and Skancke traveled to China last year and met with the leaders of Jiaotong's managers and operators of a rail system University," come from? Where would they learn how to build and maintain a train? That's where the proposed institute comes in. Skancke first met Teng in 2010, after the Western High Speed Rail Alliance held its first conference in Las Vegas. "I got this call from Harry wanting to meet and I said, 'Why does a professor at UNLV want to meet with me?' And he's an engineering professor," Skancke recalled. "So I met with him and some of his colleagues, and they had put together this concept of creating a kind of high-speed rail college within the engineering school at the university." The two continued to meet to refine the concept and decided to propose a regional institute. "I'm all about getting high-speed rail in the West, and I thought, 'Why should something like this be at the University of Delaware or the University of Illinois when we have all this talent right here?'" | 6 AUGUST 2012 | One of Jiaotong's professors sent a letter in support of establishing an American-based institute to UNLV President Neal Smatrask, and one of the university's administrators signed a memorandum in early 2011 pledging cooperation with UNLV. from China, When Skancke and Teng returned they began talking with industry leaders about the value of an institute to their companies. Teng went to work outlining potential degree programs. Teng envisions the institute offering bachelors, masters degree programs and in various doctoral subject areas involving high-speed rail. Teng also pictures a certificate program for students who aren't seeking advanced degrees. Programs would be developed programs said about of possibility of collaborating with UNLV. "He's royalty at the Beijing Jiaotong Skancke Teng. "Everywhere we went, from the Ministry of Rail to the university to the Chinese Rail Corp., connected." they knew him. He's well a lot of the Students also would be able to take specialized classes at Transportation Research the university's Center and from other UNLV departments including business, liberal arts, urban affairs and hotel administration. UNLV already has in place one of 10 student chapters of the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance- of-Way Association, and student members correspond with other chapters TRAIN OF THE FUTURE: A rendering of a proposed XpressWest high-speed rail train. COURTESY Skancke said. Skancke and friendship that Teng developed a led them to travel professionals and technicians. halfway around the world to observe operating high-speed train systems and visit universities that produce graduates capable of building and maintaining them. Skancke also proposed collaborations with other western universities that have established engineering, transportation and hospitality programs. They could contribute teachers and lecturers through distance-learning courses. Skancke named UNR; the University of Arizona and Arizona State University; the University of Utah and Utah State University; and Colorado State University; Brigham Young University as prospective partners. He also identified China's Southwest Jiaotong University, Taiwan's National Cheng Tung University, Japan's University of Tokyo, China's Dalian University of Technology and Germany's Technische Universitat Braunschweig as prospective international partners. One the University of Colorado and of the institute's goals would be to build a test track in Southern Nevada. "We have for construction workers and managers, train operation crews, station managers and operators and maintenance nationwide about rail engineering. Skancke believes that an international institute would raise the credibility and visibility of UNLV, especially if it is the center of a regional program. rail have to start "If we're going to have high-speed in this country, we're going to teaching our students and educating our faculty," Skancke said. "This brings the higher education region together under one umbrella." Skancke and graduates Teng imagine that from the institute would be equipped to go out into the world and design and build high-speed rail systems in other desert regions. Not only would the concept fit with Gov. Brian Sandoval's economic diversification efforts relationships with professors there teach civil, mechanical or electrical engineering classes that could be folded into the institute's mission. in to create new jobs and employment sectors locally, it also could be a catalyst business to build China, Japan and Europe's high-speed rail leaders Germany, France, Spain and Italy, Skancke said. "The international partnerships are endless," he said. Past studies have indicated that the XpressWest project could generate up long-term to 45,000 jobs over a three-year period with a payroll exceeding $3.4 billion. Still, as great as the pair think the idea extremes in the United States that they don't have in Europe and Asia," Skancke said. "It could be 80 degrees in Las Vegas and snowing in San Bernardino County. And we still don't really know in those desert environments will affect high-speed rail operations." topographical may be, Skancke is mindful that there are costs associated with developing the concept. So Skancke is forming a regional advisory board to try to find funding for the project. Over the next few how the desert extremes and the dust months, he'll approach industry experts to form the group that would be charged with raising money. Skancke figures rail companies will want to help as they will need a trained workforce. Train operations in extreme heat and the effects of seismic activity would likely be important research areas at the institute. Researchers also could investigate the use of solar energy to power rail systems. Teng already is writing or has finished nine outlines for courses in railroading and high-speed rail would be available at UNLV. Twenty-six 17 technology that "We're thinking big on this," Skancke said. "How do we get Las Vegas outside of the boundaries of the state of Nevada and make this a global city? I think this is the first step." rick.velotta@lasvegassun.com / 259-4061 / @VegasInc_TheRV