Montreal-based Bombardier Inc, builders and operators of the Las Vegas Monorail said Monday that its transportation division has been granted with a 5 year option order from the Las Vegas Monorail Company valued at $58 million to operate an maintain the monorail system. Bombardier has been in charge of the Las Vegas Monorail since it’s opening in 2004. Currently the electric train connects seven stations along 6.4 km of dual-lane beginning at the MGM Grand Hotel near the south end of The Strip and ending at the Sahara hotel and Casino.

"Essential to reducing traffic congestion and carbon emissions, this driverless transit system has carried more than 33 million passengers and in 2008 operated at an on-time average performance of over 99 percent." said Michael Shaman, Bombardier Transportation's Systems Division Vice President.

The Las Vegas Monorail system has seven stations: MGM Grand; Bally's/Paris Las Vegas; Flamingo Las Vegas/Caesars Palace; Harrah's/ImperialPalace; Las VegasConvention Center; Las Vegas Hilton; and the Sahara. As Las Vegas's "green" transportation system, the electric Monorail' has zero-emission and deliver travelers from one point to the other quickly and comfortably. Bombardier Inc has plans to extend the monorail system south from the MGM Grand Station to McCarranInternationalAirport.  However, the idea of providing the monorail service to the airport has not been very popular among the private drivers in Las Vegas, as trips to and from the airport form a major portion of their business. The proposed extension would begin at the new Terminal 3 with a stop near Terminal 1, then it will turn south on Swenson, and take west on Tropicana before turning south on Koval to return to the MGM Grand.

With over three decades operating automated transportation systems, Bombardier provides a comprehensive range of automated systems in cities around the world, including Atlanta, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Las Vegas, Miami, Newark, New Jersey, New York, Orlando, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Tampa, and Seattle, USA; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Beijing, China; Frankfurt, London, Madrid, and Rome, Europe; and soon in Yongin, Korea.