[Willie Green]

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Magnetic levitation (Maglev) is an advanced technology in which magnetic forces lift, propel, and guide a vehicle over a guideway. Utilizing state-of-the-art electric power and control systems, this configuration eliminates contact between vehicle and guideway and permits cruising speeds of up to 300 mph, or almost two times the speed of conventional high-speed rail service. Because of its high speed, Maglev offers competitive trip-time savings to auto and aviation modes in the 40- to 600-mile travel markets–an ideal travel option for the 21st century.

Both the Pennsylvania and Baltimore-Washington plans utilize maglev technology developed by Transrapid International. The German design is based on a conventional non-superconductingelectromagnetic/attractive magnetic configuration, and has received extensive testing at a full-scale test track in Emsland, Germany. The latest design represents over 20 years of design evolution and 15 years' testing of full-scale Transrapid prototypes, including safety certification by the German government for passenger-carrying revenue service at speeds of 250 mph or higher.

Highlights of the Transrapid system are:

• High cruising speeds of 200 to 300 mph (320 kph to 480 kph)
  

• Fast acceleration and braking with outstanding passenger comfort
  

• Can climb 10% grades at full speed
  

• Safe operation on dedicated grade-separated track, or guideway
  

• Vehicle wraps around guideway to reduce risk of derailment
  

• Low electromagnetic field emission and interference potential
  

• Standard superelevation, or tilt, of 12 degrees (max. up to 16 degrees) to navigate curves
  

• Proven and tested automatic operations control system
  

• Minimal guideway maintenance with small footprint
  

• High system capacity
  

• Guideway energized sequentially for dynamic vehicle "block" control and reduced power demand
  

• Improved aerodynamic vehicle design for minimal turbulence
  

• Multiple levels of redundancy built in for safe operations at all speeds
  

• Final safety approval anticipated in Germany for commercial operations
  

• Prior evaluation and safety analysis by the US Department of
  Transportation accepted Transrapid for deployment in Orlando, Florida in 1992

The Transrapid is suitable for transporting goods as well. For high-speed cargo transport, special cargo sections can be combined with passenger sections or assembled to form dedicated cargo trains (payload up to 18 tons per section). As the propulsion system is in the guideway, neither the length of the vehicle nor the payload affect the acceleration power.

If you would like more information about Maglev, visit the Transrapid International website or Maglev of Pennsylvania or the Baltimore-Washington Maglev Project

[RockinRight]

Screw mass transit. I love my car. I don't want to have to rely on a government-subsidized train that works on its schedule, not mine, to get where I want to go.

[Jaysun]

This guy is just a public transportation salesman. No thanks.

[Hank Rearden]

I'm sure the Mohammadens are already working on ways to derail this.

Oxcarts are Allah's (pee be upon him) law.

[wesdale]

Would be a good idea if there was actually public demand for them. But then, if there already was enough demand, these things would be in more cities.

As it is now, these toy trains are giant boondoggles for the taxpayer and a convenient way for politicians to give their friends big government contracts. In the cities that they already exist, they do not make a profit and require huge tax payer funded subsidies.

[discostu]

How much longer would the trip take if he had a transfer? Could he even stop off on the way and pick up some groceries? Would the ie cream still be frozen on the other side?

Mass transit works great in socialist countries or over crowded cities. In most America it just isn't feasable or desirable, and being high tech maglev doesn't make it any better than low tech trolleys or busses. Where people have freedom and elbow room privately owned vehicles are the transportation solution of the future.

[Paradox]

I use the local rail system to travel some 30 miles to and from work each day. Although it saves me little time, I enjoy not having to deal with the rush hour traffic. Gives me some time to catch up on reading.

[Prime Choice]

During rush hour recently in Shanghai, China, I traveled 19 miles in 7½ minutes.

Whoop-de-frickin'-doo. I seem to recall the Nazis made the trains run on time, too.

[southernnorthcarolina]

It's a time-honored strategy for train proponents to tell residents of City A that they need rail transit in order to be a "real city," just like City B. That's essentially how the taxpayers of my hometown of Charlotte, a wanna-be "World Class City" if there ever was one, got duped into approving light rail. Well, Atlanta has a train, don't they? Therefore, we have to have one too. (MARTA, by the way, has really improved Atlanta's traffic, hasn't it? Oh, wait...)

But using Shanghai as the model takes the "logic" to a whole new level. Let's see... 14 million people in metro Shanghai... few with even access to a car, much less owning one... a totalitarian government which can spend transit money without voter approval and which can force or eliminate residential, business, and government development in any areas it sees fit... Yeah, the perfect model.

Rail transit -- taking people from where they ain't to where they don't wanna go for almost two centuries.

[RightWhale]

American transportation problems result from our love of private automobile ownership and the government policies that enable our oil addiction

The problem is ours as a free gift from socialistic city planners and zoners of the 20s and 30s. Put the residential over here, put the stores over there, put the schools someplace else, and put the factories way the heck out of town. Beauty.

[DustyMoment]

Let's face it: American transportation problems result from our love of private automobile ownership and the government policies that enable our oil addiction.

Nice try, Kevin, but it's a lie. The mass transit system that used to exist all across the country in major metropolitan areas were purchased and driven out of business by a cooperative agreement between ARCO and GM. ARCO wanted a way to sell more gas and GM wanted a way to sell more cars. With mass transit systems adequately serving most metropolitan areas at the time, both knew that the dream was unreachable. So, the solution became to destroy the mass transit systems.

As metropolitan areas try to re-introduce mass transit today, the cost is staggering, the routes limited and most people have become so accustomed to the convenience of their cars that they are unwilling to rely on the mass transit system unless absolutely necessary.

MagLevs are a great technology, but exceptionally expensive. As high as the price tag is for light rail, MagLevs cost even more and require massive amounts of electricity to operate.

[devane617]

I like to fart, smoke, drink beer, eat, talk on the phone, scratch, groom, and read while driving a different route daily. Will this train allow me to do those things?

[Dead Corpse]

If you can get it to run for profit without public tax money... go for it. If not, why bleed the rest of us dry for your red ink feel good project?