Maglev bullet train feasibility study funded

The Barstow Desert Dispatch ^ | 10/10/2002 | LEIGH MUZSLAY

[Willie Green]

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.

SAN BERNARDINO —The establishment of high-speed train service from Anaheim to Las Vegas along the Interstate 15 corridor inched forward Wednesday when a regional planning group approved $125,000 for feasibility studies and other pre-construction work.

Funding for the so-called “bullet” train program was approved 17-4 by the San Bernardino Associated Governments board during its meeting Wednesday in San Bernardino.

“This funding is a major statement to Congress that California supports this (project),” said Victorville Mayor Mike Rothschild, who also sits on the California-Nevada Super Speed Train Commission. “We´re all in this together.”

With planned train stops in each city, Victorville and Barstow officials have already plunked down $50,000 each toward the studies of the first California leg of the track, Anaheim to Ontario.

The cities of Ontario and Anaheim and the Orange County Transportation Authority have each contributed $125,000. The Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District threw an additional $75,000 into the pot.

At the monthly SANBAG meeting, Rothschild stood as one of the California-Nevada Corridor Maglev Project´s biggest cheerleaders.

“Maglev is the future,” Rothschild said before the vote.

Maglev, short for magnetic levitation, runs using an electric current to create a traveling magnetic field that pulls the vehicle at speeds of up to 310 miles per hour without ever physically contacting the rails. The vehicle actually hovers an inch or so above the track and is prevented from flying off by guidebars.

Proponents of the multi-billion dollar project say the technology is environmentally friendly and will alleviate freeway congestion between Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

Opponents worry that the technology might not be cost-effective in the long-run.

But Rothschild said this is an important investment.

“I´m old enough to remember Eisenhower asking for $50 billion for the highway system and everyone complaining that it was too expensive,” Rothschild said.

He expects ground to break on the Las Vegas to Primm, Nev., segment on the line within the next 18 months. This 40-mile segment, he said, has financial backing from Las Vegas hotel and casino interests.

The Anaheim to Ontario feasibility studies are to be completed by March.

Leigh Muzslay can be reached at leigh_muzslay@link.freedom.com or 951-6234.

[Willie Green]

.

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

---

What is High Speed Ground Transportation?

High-speed ground transportation (HSGT)-- a family of technologies ranging from upgraded existing railroads to magnetically levitated vehicles-- is a passenger transportation option that can best link cities lying about 100-500 miles apart. Common in Europe ( The European Railway Server) and Japan (Japan Railways),HSGT in the United States already exists in the Northeast Corridor (Amtrak) between New York and Washington, D.C. and will soon serve travelers between New York and Boston. 

HSGT is self-guided intercity passenger ground transportation that is time competitive with air and/or auto on a door-to-door basis for trips in the approximate range of 100 to 500 miles. This is market-based, not a speed based definition. It recognizes that the opportunities and requirements for HSGT differ markedly among different pairs of cities. High-speed ground transportation (HSGT) is a family of technologies ranging from upgraded steel-wheel-on-rail railroads to magnetically levitated vehicles.

The Federal Railroad Administration has designated a variety of high density transportation corridors within our nation for development of HSGT:

.

For more information, please visit the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA’s) High Speed Ground Transportation Website

[Anti-Bubba182]

DONATE TODAY!!!. SUPPORT FREE REPUBLIC

Donate Here By Secure Server

Or mail checks to
FreeRepublic , LLC
PO BOX 9771
FRESNO, CA 93794

or you can use

PayPal at Jimrob@psnw.com
STOP BY AND BUMP THE FUNDRAISER THREAD

[Arkinsaw]

How many of you want to cram yourselves into a 300 mile per hour train in this day and age? No thanks, I will remain dispersed in my automobile.

[John Jamieson]

This one might be a good demonstration project, if they can hold the per mile cost down low enough to acually make a profit without big government money.

[Slyfox]

Thanks for this posting. It is very interesting.

The only entity that will hold this idea up will be the airlines.

[Willie Green]

How many of you want to cram yourselves into a 300 mile per hour train in this day and age? No thanks, I will remain dispersed in my automobile.

Transrapid passenger vehicles are designed to meet or exceed the expectations of the modern traveler. Bright spacious interiors, room to move about as well as enjoy the ride, ease of entrance and exit, barrier free access, and amenities appropriate to the train for the next century. The interior design concept addresses a number of objectives important to both the operator and the passenger:

• Modular construction with common components for most interior variations
  

• Flexibility to meet special requirements of the customer
  

• Seating arrangements with or without tables
  

• Passenger information and entertainment systems
  

• Flexible design to accommodate additional functional units (such as toilets, telephones, on-board catering) without major modifications to the structure

Flexible seating arrangements are available to allow first, business, and economy class seating as desired by the operator. The seating capacity of individual sections ranges from 64 for spacious first class seating to 126 for high density seating plus space for two wheelchairs for short distance, commuter applications

[rellimpank]

--by the time everybody gets their fingers in this pie, it will be one of the greatest taxpayer ripoffs ever--

[Arkinsaw]

Yep, but when Osama is looking for high dollar targets I would rather be in my car than hurtling along at 300 mph with 126 people per section down an unwatched, unguarded track. Call me paranoid.

[Willie Green]

Osama is dead.
And our highways/bridges/tunnels/beltways at rush hour are more vulnerable.

[DoctorMichael]

Where's Dagney Taggert when you need her?

[RayChuang88]

In my opinion, if we can make maglev practical it will literally change the face of transportation in the USA.

Imagine trains capable of 500 km/h (310 mph) that would literally whisk you from Chicago to Minneapolis-Saint Paul in under two hours; or San Francisco to Los Angeles in under 90 minutes; or Jacksonville to Miami in under two hours; or Dallas to Houston in just under 90 minutes. It'll would essentially obselete air travel on any corridor where maglev lines are built. At 310 mph maximum speeds, suddenly high-speed train travel over distances up to 800 miles between cities becomes really viable.

[dpwiener]

Like most mass transportation, Maglev bullet trains make no economic sense and would require extremely heavy taxpayer subsidization.

Use a little common sense: Maglev trains are constrained to a very few fixed routes. To go anywhere else, you need to rent a car or take a taxi or bus from the train station to your real destination. The cost and time and inconvenience involved in doing that means that driving your own auto is faster and cheaper for any short-haul trips (i.e., anything less than 150 miles plus the travel distance between the train station and your starting point and between the train station and your destination).

Conversely, airlines are faster than trains for any long-haul trips (e.g., over a thousand miles), even adding in the government-imposed delays at the airports. Furthermore, air travel is much more flexible, since the travel corridors are free (no tracks to lay or right-of-way to purchase). Planes can go anywhere there is an airport; routes can be added or dropped in response to consumer demand; and competition (at least in some markets) can hold prices down.

So Maglev trains are left trying to fill a narrow market niche between cars and planes, while requiring a huge up-front infrastructure investment which will probably never pay off. If market forecasts prove wrong and demand is smaller than anticipated, the Maglevs are still stuck on their existing routes. If demand exceeds expectations (less likely), it's hard to increase capacity since you can't have too many high-speed trains traveling too close to each other on the same piece of track.

That's just a sampling of the problems. For example, I haven't even delved into convenience of schedules (or lack thereof).

Maglev trains are a bad idea whose time passed thirty years ago.

[dagtaggart]

here

[DoctorMichael]

Conversely, airlines are faster than trains for any long-haul trips (e.g., over a thousand miles).........

Hmmmmmmmmm............

New Yawk to LaLa Land is approximately 3,500 miles. On a plane you hardly ever get a direct flight and get shuttled to some hub in say Chicago, Minneapolis, Dallas, Denver etc. So with a stop to change planes on a 600 mph jet (6 hours direct), a flight across country takes 8 hours or more. Okay?

A direct train at 300 mph is 11 hours or so. Certainly this is comparable. Yes?

Hell, Madden had to have a $50,000 bus made for him to do the play by play during this football season since he hates flying so much!

[DoctorMichael]

Hahahahahaha!!!!!!

[Arkinsaw]

I'll take my chances in the car.

[dpwiener]

New Yawk to LaLa Land is approximately 3,500 miles. On a plane you hardly ever get a direct flight and get shuttled to some hub in say Chicago, Minneapolis, Dallas, Denver etc. So with a stop to change planes on a 600 mph jet (6 hours direct), a flight across country takes 8 hours or more. Okay? A direct train at 300 mph is 11 hours or so. Certainly this is comparable. Yes?

No. First, I normally do take non-stop flights when I'm traveling long distances. Second, you can't really believe that a transcontinental train trip would be non-stop, can you?

Maglev trains haven't a prayer unless they are traveling along high-density or heavily-traveled corridors, and then they will likely need several stops along the way. That makes for tough trade-off decisions: Too many stops, and your average speed drops significantly. Too few stops, and you lose potential customers. Whereas with planes you can take your choice of short hops or long non-stops or intermediate hub-and-spoke arrangements, each having its own marketing price-points.

[DoctorMichael]

.........high-density or heavily-traveled corridors, and then they will likely need several stops along the way.........

Agreed. However, I addressed the comparison between a "direct" train versus a "stop-over" plane though. Nonetheless, you are correct in that it will be hard to overcome air travel for convenience and the other associated problems with rail.

[RayChuang88]

I think you need to take a look at how the Japanese run their famous Shinkansen "bullet" trains.

They're designed to accommodate both express (e.g., very few stops along the way) and local (e.g., more stops along the way) service. That's how the original Tokaido Line Shinkansen works--the Hikari trains for express service and Kodama trains for more local service.

I'm sure if we do build maglev in the USA capable of 310 mph the train operations will be modelled on what the Japanese did.

Anyway, my guess is that the sweet spot for a maglev train is about 400 to 700 miles between cities. That would pretty much cover much of the USA east of the Mississippi, where distances between major population centers are quite a bit closer. Chicago for one could be a major hub for maglev lines, with lines going northwest to Minneapolis-Saint Paul via Milwaukee, west to Omaha via Des Moines, southwest to St. Louis and Kansas City, southeast to Indianapolis and Cincinnati, and east to Detroit via Grand Rapids and Lansing. And the transit time will be no more than two hours maximum at worst.