You're referring to the "X Train," a startup project that's currently endeavoring to raise capital. Officially known as Las Vegas Railway Express, it's a conventional train that would use the existing rail infrastructure to make a Los Angeles-to-Las Vegas run, with only one stop: Fullerton. According to the Las Vegas Sun's Rick Velotta, "the Las Vegas party will start as the train rolls out of the station, with a sports bar lounge in one of the cars and rooms and show tickets available for purchase onboard."
CEO Michael Barron told the Sun the projected 5.5-hour trip would leave Union Station in L.A. at 11:30 a.m., pulling into (an as-yet-undetermined stop in) Las Vegas at 5 p.m. The ride back would start two hours later, with L.A.-bound gamblers disembarking at Union Station not long after midnight. Passengers' baggage would be delivered to Las Vegas hotels directly from the train ... but passengers themselves will not.
The long-term goal is to make 40 runs a week at $99 a head. According to Barron, the 330-minute travel time is feasible because X Train will be paying a premium for first dibs on rail access, enabling it to supersede Union Pacific freight trains. The train, as planned, will include a casino car in which one can play slots, blackjack, roulette and what one X Train exec calls "games that have something to do with a felt-covered table."
However, in California, all of the aforementioned casino games are exclusive to Indian tribes by law. Even if they weren't, gambling whilst crossing state lines would stir up a hornet's nest of federal issues. So the casino car will only be in play during the Nevada border-to-Las Vegas leg of the trip, estimated at 90 minutes' duration.
There's certainly been no shortage of publicity about this project, with new press releases being issued virtually on a daily basis, including the most recent that announced celebrity chef Rick Moonen is on board to run the food and beverage side of operations. Still, we're not holding our breath about this grand scheme actually coming to fruition anytime soon -- nor any of the other competing train projects (which now number three) currently on the drawing board.
