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<\/p>\nLas Vegas Monorail will be turning 12 years old in July, 2016. The monorail system has had its share of growing pains over the years, but it did provide me with transportation on a recent trip to Las Vegas from the Convention Center to the Quad Hotel.\u00a0The Las Vegas Monorail project was constructed\u00a0by Bombardier Transportation, the same company that is currently rolling out its C Series regional jets. It was built as\u00a0an extension to the existing monorail line that\u00a0operated\u00a0between the\u00a0MGM Grand\u00a0and\u00a0Bally’s Hotels. The monorail suffered many\u00a0malfunctions while in\u00a0its testing phase that delayed the start of passenger service for about a year.\u00a0These\u00a0malfunctions included\u00a0parts falling from the monorail tracks to the ground. The\u00a0Las Vegas Monorail finally opened to the public on July 15, 2004. The system did experience a couple of shutdowns during its first year of operations, including one that lasted almost four months when parts began falling from the tracks again. One year after service\u00a0began, Transit Systems Management announced that it would shut down its operations, turning responsibility for operations to\u00a0the Las Vegas Monorail Company.<\/p>\n
On January 13, 2010, the Las Vegas Monorail filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection. The filing stated that the Monorail had been operating since 2004 using proceeds from \u00a0its initial financing and debt service reserves. These funds have\u00a0now been fully depleted, which made it necessary to file for re-orginization. According to the court petition, Las Vegas Monorail has between $10 million and $50 million of assets, and between $500 million and $1 billion of debts.\u00a0The Las Vegas Monorail Company successfully emerged from bankruptcy protection in November of 2012, with its debt load slashed down to\u00a0just$13 million.<\/p>\n
A feasibility study for a planned\u00a0expansion of the monorail to the McCarran Airport was approved\u00a0back in November of\u00a02005. This extension was officially approved in December of\u00a02006 by Clark County commissioners, providing that the financing would come from private funding. However, funding for the project never materialized.\u00a0The monorail company most recently proposed\u00a0in May of 2015 that the monorail be\u00a0extended to the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, with an additional station being added at the Sands Expo & Convention Center across the street from the Wynn Las Vegas.<\/p>\n
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