The XpressWest project that would build a high-speed rail line from Victorville to Las Vegas has always had its share of skeptics, but now Senator Jeff Sessions and former vice presidential candidate, Representative Paul Ryan, are ready to douse it with a big bucket of cold water. In a letter to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood last week, the chairs of the Senate and House Budget Committees urged the administration not to approve a $5.5 billion loan for the project. XpressWest has been waiting for news on that loan since they applied way back in December 2011, and Vegas Inc. seems to think that the Ryan/Sessions letter could be a sign that the government is getting ready to respond. Calling XpressWest "costly, wasteful and high risk," the letter cites a 2012 report from the libertarian Reason foundation that concluded that high-speed rail projects are "plagued by optimistic ridership and revenue forecasts, financial losses and capitol (sic) cost overruns." But Vegas Inc's source claims the letter is merely "a political diversion to slow the administration's efforts on high-speed rail." In the meantime, alcoholic train enthusiasts will be able to ride the regular-speed party train to Vegas starting next January, when the Xtrain starts service.

· Congressmen want to kill Las Vegas high-speed rail loan [Vegas Inc]

· Will DesertXpress Really Get Funded? [Curbed LA]