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Transportation Bill Sets Aside $45 Million For MagLev Train

Posted by Soulskill on from the zoom-zoom dept.

tbischel tips us to news that the MagLev train project which would run from Las Vegas to Disneyland has received approval for $45 million in funding. The project has been in the planning stages for quite some time, and it was delayed further by a drafting error in a 2005 highway bill. "Derided by critics as pie in the sky, the train would use magnetic levitation technology to carry passengers from Disneyland to Las Vegas in well under two hours, traveling at speeds of up to 300 mph. It would be the first MagLev system in the U.S. The money is the largest cash infusion in the project's nearly 20-year history. It will pay for environmental studies for the first leg of the project."

4 of 402 comments (clear)

  1. Previous train route cancelled due to low useage by Starvingboy · · Score: 5, Insightful
    From the very short article

    There is no train on the route--Amtrak's Desert Wind between Los Angeles and Las Vegas was canceled in 1997 because of low ridership. This has to be a joke/troll. 45 Mil for the environmental study for a already failed train route? I don't know if I should laugh or cry.
  2. Re:Critics by azgard · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Really? I am from Europe, and just have to wonder...

    What about building the first Maglev between Washington and New York? What about San Francisco and Los Angeles? What about making it actually useful?

  3. Re: "making it actually useful" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They would make a huge profit from a DC to NY train assuming it had stops in the big East Coast Cities. I grew up in Baltimore and it seems that almost everybody their worked in DC and had to drive all the way everyday. A lot of people would use it for business commutes and many college kids could use it to get home from school (UMD, GW etc) without car.

  4. Re:Infrastructure problems in the East prohibit by legutierr · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Whatever its problems may be, the Acela is the fastest and easiest way to get from NYC to Washington. A flight might be of shorter duration, but when you factor in the inconvenience and delay of ticketing and security, and the time and cost of getting to the airport, the overall trip is faster. Plus you don't have to mess with those stupid ziplock bags, and you don't have to turn off your cell phone. I never fly between NY and DC, it's only the Acela.

    It would be great, though, if they improved the tracks to get the full speed out of the train.