The company had to pay more than $19 million in principal and interest due for bonds issued in 2000 to build the high-tech train that links several Las Vegas Strip hotels, according to a Wells Fargo bank document obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

More than $2.3 million had to be withdrawn to make up the difference, according to the paper.

"This was expected," Ingrid Reisman, vice president of corporate communications for the monorail, said in a statement. "Though it's the first time we've utilized our debt service reserve fund, the budget we prepared last year anticipated this."

Credit rating firm Fitch Ratings estimated in July that the monorail would begin tapping cash reserves, which it said would last at best through 2010.

Reisman said the monorail expected to secure new funding this year to pay for an extension to McCarran International Airport and to refinance its existing debt.

Chad Lewis, Fitch's director of global infrastructure and project finance, said news that the monorail had begun tapping its reserves was expected, but the cash burn rate would be monitored carefully.

"Obviously we're watching it very closely to see if that timetable would change," Lewis said Thursday.

Fitch estimated the monorail had about $69 million in reserves on hand, down from $89 million in 2006. It assigned a junk-bond, underlying rating of "CC" to the $451.4 million in first tier bonds, two notches above a default rating.

It does not rate the $197.7 million in second and third tier bonds.

Since opening to the public in July 2004, the $650 million, four-mile rail system on the east side of the Strip has failed to turn a profit.

Taxpayers are not liable, nor is any government entity obligated to take over the monorail or its debt should the company go bankrupt. The bonds are insured by AMBAC Assurance Corp. of New York, and a contingency fund exists to tear down the line if it closes.

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On the Web:

Las Vegas Monorail Co.: www.lvmonorail.com

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