‘We’re thrilled’: Vegas Loop opens new station along Strip

The Boring Co.’s Vegas Loop opened its Encore station on Monday, marking the second Las Vegas Strip location on the expanding people mover system.

The Encore station is the third Vegas Loop station to open outside of the Las Vegas Convention Center, where the underground transportation system launched in 2021. Resorts World was the first offshoot to open in 2022, with the Westgate station opening this year.

Encore station’s opening came just as the National Association of Broadcasters convention kicked off at the convention center, which is expected to draw over 60,000 attendees.

“We’re thrilled to have it open, particularly to have it open for NAB,” Steve Hill, president and CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, told the Review-Journal. “A lot of the attendees, the exhibitors and meeting organizers like to stay in the neighborhood. This makes it an east two-minute ride. It opens up a lot of opportunities and just makes the experience better for everybody that’s here.”

Only one tunnel has opened between Encore and the convention center, with the second loop set to come online this year. Until then, traffic in the tunnel will be regulated to accommodate directional travel, as was the case when Resorts World’s station first opened.

“We’ve got the machine in the ground for the second tunnel headed to Wynn and Encore now,” Hill said. “We look forward to having a complete system there instead of just one tunnel, but it’s one step at a time.”

The convention center has four stations, with three original stops in different expo halls and the Riviera Station in the parking lot near the west hall, which opened last year.

Work is also well underway on the University Center Loop, which stretches from a station on Paradise Road near UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center to the convention center’s Silver Lot. That offshoot features stations at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas and a parcel just north of the hotel-casino, where Boring Co. is planning to construct a multifamily residential unit, with an attached convenience store.

“They’re moving forward, heading north (up Paradise toward the convention center),” Hill said. “They’re making good progress.”

When complete, Boring Co.’s Vegas Loop will feature 68 miles of tunnels serving 104 stations in a point-to-point system.

Boring Co. estimates the system will have the ability to serve 90,000 passengers per hour, transporting passengers via Tesla model vehicles.

A projected date for full build-out has not been announced.

Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.