End of the Line for Las Vegas Monorail
Posted on: April 5, 2024, 12:52h.
Last updated on: August 31, 2024, 05:35h.
When news broke in late 2020 that the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) had purchased the Las Vegas Monorail Co. out of bankruptcy, fans of the once-futuristic tram system saw it as a lifeline.
It was really a death warrant.
What most people don’t realize is that the LVCVA’s plans included an $11 million fee for dismantling the monorail, perhaps as early as 2028, but definitely by 2030.
Last Stop Coming Up
The problem is that operating the monorail, for which the LVCVA pays a Los Gatos, Calif. company up to $500K annually, has become like driving a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California SWB Spider. Sooner or later, it will break down and require a replacement part that can’t be obtained because it’s not manufactured anymore.
And old monorail parts aren’t the kind of things that get listed on eBay.
The monorail employs nine Innovia 200 trams, each with four cars, which its four-mile track was custom-designed to fit. Those trams were only manufactured by Bombardier out of Quebec, which no longer makes them. In fact, after racking up billions of dollars of debt, it no longer makes trams at all. Bombardier sold its rail business for $6.7 billion to French competitor Alstom in 2021.
Alstom only manufactures a newer model, the Innovia 300, whose beam width of 27.2 inches renders it incompatible with the 26-inch older model.
For a while, monorail executives reportedly rooted for Disney World to upgrade its Mark VI trams so they could buy the retired stock. (The first monorail tracks to operate in Vegas, connecting the MGM Grand and Bally’s from 1995 to 2002, used two retired Disney World Mark IVs.)
However, the Mouse House is in the same no-win situation as Las Vegas. It can buy an all-new monorail system but would need to construct all-new tracks. It’s not impossible for a company to develop a new monorail to fit the existing one’s tracks but nobody is rushing to step up to that very niche plate.
Off the Rails
The Las Vegas monorail began when the original MGM Grand-to-Bally’s system expanded to include seven more stops along the resort corridor in 2003.
It has never made a profit — but it was never designed to — since it was considered a public service. Though no public money was used in its $650 million construction ($1.12 billion today), Nevada did provide the project with the largest investment of state-issued bonds in the state’s history.
Other than its latest bankruptcy, which was its second, another hint that something wasn’t right was the relatively small price paid by the LVCVA, $24.3 million, for a system that cost so much to build.
A third hint is the deafening silence surrounding the monorail’s plans for a Mandalay Bay/Allegiant Stadium extension and a stop at MSG Sphere. Both were approved by Clark County in 2018 and expected to open by 2021.
The monorail even announced, in October 2019, that it had secured $33.5 million in financing from Dallas-based Preston Hollow Capital for the expansion.
The completion of this initial financing is an important and necessary step in our expansion strategy for this system, which already provides substantial mobility benefits along our busy resort corridor,” Las Vegas Monorail Co. CEO Curtis Myles said in a statement at the time.
“With two new stations, we will multiply those benefits for our customers, resort partners, sponsors, and our community.”
Neither station gets mentioned anymore by the LVCVA.
Crazy Train
So why would the LVCVA purchase an old transportation system that they knew was doomed?
Because the monorail had a noncompete clause that prohibited any other company from building another off-street transportation system for the Strip.
And the LVCVA had already signed, in 2019, a $48 million contract with Elon Musk’s The Boring Company to build the Vegas Loop, which would probably have violated the monorail’s noncompete clause.
Monorail tickets cost $5.50 for a one-way ride, $13.45 for an unlimited 24-hour pass, and $57.50 for a seven-day pass via the system’s website. Monorail trains arrive every four to eight minutes.
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Last Comments ( 91 )
Fake news. Click bate
Makes me wonder if it was ever built to make a profit. By not taking it to the airport and downtown, was a death blow to begin with. What a waste.
I agree w Will & Sal S. Expand the route! 1 roure to & from the airport, another around both sides of the strip all the way to Fremont St. It will thrive!
The times I visited Las Vegas on business, I relied on the monorail to move me from place to place quickly and economically. I always stayed at the Hilton so I could enjoy Star Trek:The Experience in my off hours. So, it seems that two major reasons for me scheduling business trips to Las Vegas are gone. Goodbye Las Vegas, I'll be taking my business to other cities now.
They should have bit the bullet and put it right down the middle of the strip. No one wants to walk a half mile back to go a mile down the road then a half mile back to the strip.
This article is poorly written and inaccurate. The article makes the author look like a disgruntled past employee or someone trying to get their associates degree in Journalism
It doesn't go anywhere you want to go. We paid a good sum of money to ride while we were there. It went to exactly none of the places we wanted to see. Was a total waste of money. The only benefit now is that it passes the sphere. Which was under construction then. We rode once got off, realized it wasn't within like 8 blocks of what we wanted to see. Went back got on and headed back to where we started. Waste of time and money. A kid with crayons could create a better path than this thing takes.
I second JimmieA If the monorail will run from the Airport to Freemont experience, it'll be very, very, profitable , and please make it for people to be able to board without having to walk a mile, like it is now, meet locals and visitors halfway leaving the politics and mentality involved aside in regards of "show me the money planning"
I believe we all would agree that if it went to the airport it would make money. The only time the monorail makes money if any is during big conventions like the. CES.
It cannot be that hard to make parts for it, they made them already, they can make them again. This is 2024 ffs, humans are ingenuitive, there is always a solution. This is clearly about something else.
Underground isn't a great idea. The best part of the monorail is that you can see (from above) sights on the Strip. And, of course, it takes you places. Expansion or connections would be best.
As a frequent visitor from Germany I never liked this monorail as it is too far away from the strip and too pricey to be an attractive way for tourists to explore the strip. I wondered why they didn’t put it ON the strip btw the lanes. In Europe it’s pretty common to have a tram oder highline on/above the main streets as well as the subway station underneath. Only if the walks to and from are convenient the passengers will use it - but thank god they installed the bus shuttles on the strip. Affordable. Especially with a multiple pass and surprisingly enough buses on route to keep waiting relatively short - unfortunately Vegas became that expensive that I won’t be back too soon. When been there last The city sold itself to F1 for the disadvantage of regular visitors who expected the fountains , volcanos and views of the strip etc
The Monorail can keep running indefinatly . With today's CNC machines, 3D printers and computers and fabricators , totally doable. But we live in a disposable world. Vegas is the king of it. If it stops generating money, they implode it! Then simply build bigger, and charge the visitors for the upgrade. Eventually they will implode there own economy as people won't want to pay high prices to visit a giant traffic jam and costly parking , overpriced food and drinks and rooms . Gambling is now Available at every other Indian Tribe Nation Teritory across the USA. So Las Vegas is losing its appeal.
This is terrible news. I love it, it's much cleaner than Duece and less waiting time with places to sit and wait. Very disappointing news.
Stupid to not build it to the Airport and save everyone lots of money and frustration getting back and forth to the strip. The regular workers can use this getting around town. Horrible to continue ignoring the local's need for this to be expanded, not demolished.