Depot 0:00 Sahara 2:00 Las Vegas Hilton 4:00 Las Vegas Convention Center 8:30 Harrah's / Imperial Palace 9:30 Flamingo / Caesars Palace Original (Bally's—MGM Grand ) 11:00 Bally's / Paris Las Vegas 13:00 MGM Grand Phase Three (MGM Grand—airport) Harmon Ave & Koval Lane Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Thomas & Mack Center (UNLV) Entering McCarran Int'l Airport Terminal 3 (planned) Terminal 1 Times are scheduled minutes from Sahara
The Las Vegas Monorail (formerly MGM Grand-Bally's Monorail ) is a 3.9-mile (6.3 km) monorail mass transit system located on the Las Vegas Strip, in Clark County, Nevada, United States. It connects the unincorporated communities of Paradise and Winchester, and does not actually enter the City of Las Vegas. It is owned and operated by the Las Vegas Monorail Company. For tax purposes, the Monorail is registered as a not-for-profit company, which is allowed under Nevada law since the Monorail provides a public service. The state of Nevada assisted in bond financing, but otherwise no public money was used in construction; taxpayer obligation eventually will be incurred.
History
The Las Vegas Monorail project was built by Bombardier Transportation upon an existing free monorail that ran between the MGM Grand and Bally's, closing a long gap in the Strip that tourists usually had to travel on foot.
After many delays, the finished Las Vegas Monorail opened to the public on July 15, 2004 with the completion and testing of "Phase 1."
During testing and commissioning, the monorail suffered several malfunctions that delayed the start of passenger service for almost a year. The most severe of these problems related to parts falling from the monorail to the ground under the tracks.
On September 8, 2004, more problems with falling parts led to the closing of the monorail for nearly four months. It reopened on December 24, 2004. A number of repairs were made to the monorail cars during this shutdown. Each time the monorail system requires major engineering changes, it must undergo a lengthy "commissioning" process to confirm the effectiveness and safety of the repairs. The local press reported that each day the monorail was down cost the system approximately $85,000, and that over $8.3 million was lost as a result of this one shutdown.
Transit Systems Management officials cited the good handling of crowds during the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2005 as proof that the system can handle a major convention.
On February 2, 2005, the monorail system had to be shut down again due to problems with the electrical system. Reportedly, a short circuit required replacement of a 30-foot (9.1 m) section of the power rail. The system reopened about 12 hours later.
July 2005 set a record for ridership for the monorail, with over one million passengers. BankWest debuted a red "MoneyRail" branded train, and joins Nextel Communications (now a part of Sprint Nextel Corporation), Hansens Beverage, and Paramount Studios (with a Star Trek themed train) as corporate sponsors.
On July 8, 2005, Transit Systems Management announced that it would shut down, turning over its responsibilities to the Las Vegas Monorail Company, the system operator. Curtis Myles, a former deputy general manager of the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada, became President of the Las Vegas Monorail Company. He assumed his duties on July 18.
Expansion plans took a step forward on November 1, 2005, when the County Commission approved a study into the feasibility of an airport extension.
On June 6, 2006, it was announced by the Las Vegas Monorail Corporation that Las Vegas Monorail revenues rose nearly 16 percent from the previous year, to $3,250,565 in April 2006. Likewise, ridership had also increased, from 563,823 riders in January 2006 to 704,527 in April 2006. New ticket distribution and marketing efforts had been implemented to continue the trend, including a ticket brokerage program that provided convention attendees with monorail tickets in advance and a national public relations program.
Operations
The present monorail (Phase 1 of the overall project) begins at the MGM Grand Hotel near the south end of The Strip, and runs roughly parallel to the Strip on its eastern side. The monorail passes next to the Convention Center and the Las Vegas Hilton, both with stations, before ending at the Sahara hotel at the north end of the Strip. The ride takes about fifteen minutes to travel its total distance of 3.9 miles (6.3 km).
The monorail generally runs behind the eastern Strip side hotels and casinos, a long block away from the Strip. To get to the Strip thus usually requires a walk through a casino, emerging upon the Strip in front of the property. This lack of a direct presence on the Strip along with criticized ticket prices has been a factor in the rather slow acceptance of the monorail.
The proposed New Las Vegas Arena, to be built behind Bally's and Paris Las Vegas, could be accessed from the existing Bally's station.
System name and sponsorship
The Las Vegas Monorail was honorarily named the Robert N. Broadbent Las Vegas Monorail for Robert N. Broadbent, whom Las Vegas officials credit with gaining the support from the public and officials needed to bring the monorail to fruition. Broadbent, a former Boulder City mayor, Clark County commissioner, assistant secretary of the interior, and McCarran International Airport director, died in 2003, a few months before the system's scheduled opening. The Las Vegas Monorail Company is the company's official corporate name.
The Las Vegas Monorail generates revenue not only from ticketed passengers, but also from corporate sponsors. Branding rights for the seven stations and the nine trains are available, and the sponsorship prices are in the millions. Hansens Beverage sponsored the first monorail train, featuring its Monster Energy Drink. Nextel Communications created a totally themed pavilion by branding the largest station, adjacent to the Las Vegas Convention Center. Since the Sprint-Nextel Merger in late 2005, Nextel Central has been rebranded as Sprint Central, however in late February 2008, the Sprint Nextel Corporation terminated their sponsorship contract.
Construction and planning
The Las Vegas Monorail was designed by Gensler of Nevada, engineered by Las Vegas based Carter & Burgess (now Jacobs Engineering Group Inc.) and constructed by Granite Construction, Inc. of California, one of the largest civil contractors in the United States.
The Las Vegas Monorail vehicles and signals systems were developed by Bombardier Transportation. The technology for the monorail vehicles came directly from the well-tested monorail systems running in Walt Disney World. Bombardier constructed Mark VI Monorail trains both for Walt Disney World Monorail System and for Las Vegas.
Stations
Stations listed from north to south.
- Sahara Station
- Las Vegas Hilton Station
- Las Vegas Convention Center Station
- Harrah's / Imperial Palace Station
- Flamingo / Caesars Palace Station
- Bally's / Paris Las Vegas Station
- MGM Grand Station
Trains
The monorail uses nine Bombardier MVI trains that have four cars in each of the fully automatic trains. The guideway is built to the "ALWEG" track standard; for the first seven years the line only ran as the MGM Shuttle between MGM and Bally's stations—during this time two ex-Walt Disney World Mark IV monorail trains were used. Though the Las Vegas and related train equipment appear superficially similar to the original Alweg design (as exemplified by the Seattle system), their suspension and propulsion systems differ substantially. A Seattle train may be walked end-to-end which is impossible on a Las Vegas or Florida train. The ALWEG Mark VI system used in Las Vegas Monorail consists of two inli
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