Long-Awaited Monorail to Open in Las Vegas

Work still underway on station at the Las Vegas Convention Center

By Heidi Genoist -- Tradeshow Week, 7/12/2004

Las Vegas—After a couple of false starts, the Las Vegas Monorail will finally be cruising the resort corridor.

Ten years and $650 million of private funding in the making, the monorail is scheduled to open to the public on July 15. It was originally set to open in January, but the opening was postponed until spring, then late summer. In April, the Las Vegas Monorail Co. reported that it was still testing the system, and that the delays were not related to ongoing construction at the Las Vegas Convention Center stop.

The station, part of Nextel Communications' $50-million, 12-year sponsorship, still isn't finished. But the Las Vegas Monorail Co. and the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority expect it to be completed by the end of this month. In the interim, riders can use the stop, but will have to take the stairs, since escalators will be reserved for construction workers.

"The next closest station, the Hilton, is right next door, and we'll encourage people who want to access the convention center to think about using that one, then walking across the street," said James Gibson, chairman and CEO of Transit Systems Management.

Three tradeshows are scheduled to take place at the LVCC between the monorail opening and the stop's anticipated completion: IFT Food Expo, the Institute of Food Technologists' yearly conference and expo, July 12–16; ICAST, the annual meeting of the American Sportfishing Assn., July 14–16; and PPA Imaging USA Conference & Expo, the Professional Photographers of America's confab, July 25–27.

Hugh Sinnock, regional operations manager for Reed Exhibitions, said he believes the monorail stop at the LVCC will be used heavily by tradeshow attendees. "If you've seen the cab lines at the close of a show, you'll understand" the need for this transportation alternative, Sinnock said. "We expect to see reduced use of shuttle buses, less congestion around the convention center and happier visitors."

Reed produces several Tradeshow Week 200-ranked events in Las Vegas each year, as well as a handful of smaller events.

The regular, one-way fare for the monorail is $3, with reductions for round trips, multiple-ride passes and certain classes of passengers. Gibson said Transit Systems has already begun reaching out to organizers to discuss special deals for tradeshow-goers.

"We've worked closely with the convention center sales staff and that leads us to the same people they work with," said Gibson.

This gives attendees another way to get in and out of the convention center and move up and down the Strip to any of the properties that hosts tradeshows, he added. "We understand that the city of Las Vegas doesn't work unless there's movement, and we want to be part of the solution."

Sinnock believes these deals would benefit both show organizers and the Monorail Co., by giving attendees discounts and increasing ridership. In addition, he said, stations adjacent to exhibit halls could present some marketing opportunities.

The train makes seven stops along the 4-mile route that runs parallel to the Las Vegas Strip between the Sahara Hotel and Casino and the MGM Grand. Besides the two terminals, stops are found at the Las Vegas Hilton, the LVCC, Harrah's/Imperial Palace, the Flamingo/Caesars Palace and Paris/Bally's. According to the Monorail Co., the properties served encompass 25,000 hotel rooms and 4.4 million square feet of meeting and convention space.

The stop nearest the Sands Expo & Convention Center is Harrah's/Imperial Palace. A spokesperson for the Monorail Co. estimated it is a 5-minute walk between the two. With its current route, the monorail does not serve Mandalay Bay Convention Center, home of Las Vegas' third-largest exhibit hall. But mass transit passengers can catch Mandalay Resort Group's private tram, which runs between the Excalibur Hotel and Mandalay Bay, by getting off at the MGM Grand stop and crossing the Strip to the Excalibur.

On the drawing board are two further phases that would extend the monorail north to Fremont Street and south to McCarran Intl. Airport. Gibson said no timeline has been set for those projects yet.

For its first two months of operation, the monorail will run from 8 a.m. to midnight; then, the schedule will be extended to 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily.