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Los Angeles Approves $500,000 Study on Maglev Train Line
Miami Herald ^
| Wednesday, March 17, 2004
| Lisa Mascaro
Posted on 03/17/2004 1:54:53 PM PST by Willie Green
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Related thread:
Should we build a maglev?
.
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 marketsan 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
To: Willie Green
How far is it from West LA to Ontario airport
2
posted on
03/17/2004 1:59:00 PM PST
by
Fierce Allegiance
("I" before "E" except in Budweiser.)
To: Willie Green
I sure hope that they take a "system approach" and include the needed power plant, electric power transmission lines and electric distribution substations to go along with the MagLev system, as usually it is impossible to extremely difficult to get permits to build such facilities in California.
While maglev is a neat idea, I have seen Blackouts in California because, various types of power facilities can't be built. Adding new electrical loads will only make things worse.
3
posted on
03/17/2004 2:00:44 PM PST
by
Robert357
To: Willie Green
4
posted on
03/17/2004 2:03:27 PM PST
by
So Cal Rocket
(If consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds, John F. Kerry’s mind must be freaking enormous)
To: Willie Green
Is a $5.5 billion (before the expected overbudget price increase) 200 mph train worth it go a whooping 55 miles?
A cheaper conventional HSR would be MUCH better then this boondoggle. Heck, even light rail would do the trick. All this supposing that even GOING to Ontario Airport with such a system is a smart idea in the first place.
Somehow, I believe this $500,000 could be better spent. But thats my fiscal conservative reasoning coming in.
5
posted on
03/17/2004 2:06:21 PM PST
by
Simmy2.5
(Kerry. When you need to ketchup...)
To: Fierce Allegiance
55 miles
6
posted on
03/17/2004 2:14:56 PM PST
by
Willie Green
(Go Pat Go!!!)
To: Simmy2.5
At $10.00 for a one-way ticket this is a toy for the elite, not transit for the masses.
Fish farming in the Mojave Desert would have a stronger business case.
7
posted on
03/17/2004 2:15:15 PM PST
by
You Dirty Rats
(WE WILL WIN WITH W - Isara)
To: You Dirty Rats
At $10.00 for a one-way ticket this is a toy for the elite, not transit for the masses. By taxi, the same one-way trip would cost at least $50 and take longer.
8
posted on
03/17/2004 2:22:43 PM PST
by
Willie Green
(Go Pat Go!!!)
To: Willie Green
By private car, which is what most people already have, with gas at $2.50 a gallon, more than it is now, it would cost about $10 for me to drive that far with my 14mpg car. With a 30mpg car, it would cost less than $5.
If I took the Maglev, and I wanted a car at my destination, it would cost about $30 a day to rent, so a day trip would cost $20 for a round trip ticket plus $30 to rent the car, or a total of $50.
Driving, even in my Mercedes 420SEL, would be significantly cheaper and would not require terrifyingly expensive capital costs and subsidies. It would also be significantly more comfortable and pleasant, with the leather seats, my own music on the stereo, and so on. And I would have a car at my destination at no additional cost to me.
This kind of project just doesn't make any sense. If you want to blow billions, double-deck the freeways, and let all car owners take advantage of the improvements, not just the very small numbers that would ride this boondoggle.
D
To: Willie Green
From Riverside to Ontario Airport, it cost $40 one way for 20 miles by taxi. Time, 24 minutes in good traffic. Even if this boondoggle is built, it won't help me any.
That still doesn't mean Maglev is the way to go. Like I said, lightrail or conventional HSR would be much better. This of course, is supposing that going to the AIRPORT is a smart idea in the first place. There are a lot of places to go that would be better then Ontario.
10
posted on
03/17/2004 2:43:53 PM PST
by
Simmy2.5
(Kerry. When you need to ketchup...)
To: Willie Green
Why do you need MAGLEV to go 112 mph? My neon will do that.
Sounds like perfect application for a Bombardier Turbine Train (for about 1/10th the price and operating cost)
11
posted on
03/17/2004 2:46:47 PM PST
by
UNGN
(I've been here since '98 but had nothing to say until now)
To: Willie Green
Los Angeles Approves $500,000 Study on Maglev Train LineYes. And in other news today:
Los Angeles Approves $0 To Bloody Do Anything To Improve Existing Roads And Infrastructure
12
posted on
03/17/2004 3:15:12 PM PST
by
pogo101
To: Willie Green
$10 is what they'll charge. What will a ride cost?
13
posted on
03/17/2004 3:44:47 PM PST
by
DManA
To: pogo101
Yes. And in other news today:
Los Angeles Approves $0 To Bloody Do Anything To Improve Existing Roads And Infrastructure Exactly the problem with public transportation! They spend a lot of money studing stuff without actually improving the most important things: roads.
$500,000 is about the same as two months of subsidies for the LA MTA or 10 lane-miles of freeway.
14
posted on
03/17/2004 3:48:57 PM PST
by
heleny
To: So Cal Rocket
15
posted on
03/17/2004 3:56:53 PM PST
by
Rebel_Ace
(Tags?!? Tags?!? We don' neeeed no stinkin' Tags!)
To: Willie Green
Los Angeles and surrounding areas are too spread out for any sort of mass transit to be workable....ask 20 people in your office building where they live, and you'll get 15 to 18 separate compass readings.
It's too spread out, with bedroom communities on all sides and - most important - there is nothing close to a central employment area.
If carpooling won't work there (and it does not), some snazzy choo-choo train that goes from Point A to Point B isn't going to either.
16
posted on
03/17/2004 3:58:30 PM PST
by
ErnBatavia
(Gay marriage is for suckers...)
To: DManA
$10 is what they'll charge. What will a ride cost? They'll probably have to study that, too. It depends a lot on the ridership levels, which are usually highly inflated to justify the project.
The LA MTA budget was $2.8 billion, and either had about a million passenger trips or cost $6000 per passenger, depending on the source. The MTA serves a lot of short-distance commuters as well as light rail.
The annual subsidies for the MTA are enough to build 68 miles times one lane at the price of the most expensive CA freeway (Century freeway, I-105). Obviously, one lane of freeway is used by many more than 1 million cars per month (let alone per year).
17
posted on
03/17/2004 4:19:16 PM PST
by
heleny
To: daviddennis
This kind of project just doesn't make any sense. If you want to blow billions, double-deck the freeways, and let all car owners take advantage of the improvements, not just the very small numbers that would ride this boondoggle. I agree. Freeways are definitely the way to go.
Anyone who has ever used public transportation knows the inconvenience of driving through traffic to get to the station, finding parking (and possibly paying for it), waiting in a line to buy a ticket, waiting for the next train, getting from the station to your final destination, and scheduling your life around inconvenient train schedules.
It's incredibly noisy (the Maglev operation itself could be quiet, but you wouldn't be the only passenger on the train or waiting for it, and there would be announcements over a loud PA system), nearby passengers sneeze/cough/odorize the air you breathe, and you can't run errands or go back if you forgot something.
Public transportation is very vulnerable to terrorist attacks, and it's illegal to carry a firearm or knife on public transportation even for self-defense.
18
posted on
03/17/2004 4:36:57 PM PST
by
heleny
To: Rebel_Ace
Hey, how about a link to that "Simpsons" episode with the "Monorail ... Monorail ... MONORAIL!!" parody of both maglev/monorails and of "The Music Man"?
19
posted on
03/17/2004 5:27:40 PM PST
by
pogo101
To: Willie Green
The City of Los Angeles is one of the most corrupt
municipal governments in the United States
Having some knowledge of the mind set of how
the City of Los Angeles operates ... The money
is already earmarked for ten consultants ...
That will kick back to dozens of higher officials
in the form of campaign contributions.
The City has already p***ed away Fifteen billion
U.S. tax payer dollars on a eight mile subway ...
in a high earthquake zone. The same money, could
have been spent, on a fabulous ground level public
transportation system.
20
posted on
03/17/2004 5:44:18 PM PST
by
Smartass
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