And you're surprised? Without spurs to McCarran Airport and Downtown it still boggles the imagination how the builders thought this would be successful.
The Las Vegas Sun is reporting (scoping the on-line version of the R-J- Proving once again that a two newspaper city is better than one):
The Las Vegas Monorail has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Sun columnist Jon Ralston is reporting this afternoon.
Board member Bruce Woodbury said in December the company hasn't raised enough money from fares to pay off the $650 million in construction and startup loans floated to build and start operating the system in July 2004.
The 3.9-mile system runs on an elevated track linking Strip casinos and the Las Vegas Convention Center east of the Strip.
Woodbury said in December that plans still call for building a $500 million extension to McCarran International Airport and other Strip resorts to boost revenues.
But he says that until the current debt is restructured, the system probably won't be able to attract financing.
The company reported carrying 6,005,024 passengers in 2009, with revenues of $26,974,513 for the year.
That is down from a peak passenger count of 7,917,613 in 2007, when the system had revenue of $30,252,305.
The monorail is the only privately owned public transportation system in the United States. The company was formed in 2000 and acquired the original one-mile monorail that connected MGM Grand and Bally’s. The new 3.9-mile route opened in 2004, connecting many properties on the east side of the Strip from Sahara Avenue to Tropicana Avenue.