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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."

16 of 402 comments (clear)

  1. Trains, US? by skeldoy · · Score: 5, Funny

    Trains in the US & A? Can this really be true?
    Surely this must involve burning of insane amounts of petroleum somehow! Maybe the magnets are powered by petroleum?

    1. Re:Trains, US? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Trains in the US & A? Can this really be true? Surely this must involve burning of insane amounts of petroleum somehow! Maybe the magnets are powered by petroleum?

      He's a heretic. BURN HIM!

    2. Re:Trains, US? by mrbluze · · Score: 5, Funny

      He's a heretic. BURN HIM! .. with petroleum! Ahh.. that feels better.
      --
      Do it yourself, because no one else will do it yourself. [beta blockade 10-17 Feb]
    3. Re:Trains, US? by larkost · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I recently took the train from Philadelphia to San Francisco, and the trip was really nice. It took 3 1/2 days, but was in the same price range as flight tickets (it really depends on when you buy them). The ride was pleasent, and people aboard the train were very willing to talk (unlike on a flight). And the views were absolutely gorgeous.

      If you have the time, I would recomend the trip.

      Oh.. and if you are willing to sit in a chair the whole way you can get the trip for something like $100. I am not going to recommend that, but it is possible.

  2. they better check out North Haverbrook first... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Well, sir, there's nothing on earth
    Like a genuine,
    Bona fide,
    Electrified,
    Six-car
    Monorail!

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marge_vs._the_Monorail

  3. The Wonders Of Engineering by steeljaw · · Score: 5, Funny

    Start your day shaking hands with Mickey and in under 2 hours you can be getting a blow from Minnie! Woot Woot! Engineering has cum a long way :p

    --
    Procrastinators, Unite Tomorrow!!
  4. Bizarre by jdub_dub · · Score: 5, Informative

    So a route which was cancelled because of low ridership... is getting the most expensive trainset in the country?

  5. Maybe they should talk to the germans first by ThatbookwritingWheel · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The transrapid project has had a similar length timeframe, and the only feasible implementation (munich to munich airport) was finally shot down a couple of weeks ago. Costs where double of what was originally projected. While maglev is a really cool technology, it is not as brilliant in real life due to the high costs and the competition from airtravel. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transrapid

    --
    We are all packets in the Internet of life!
  6. 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.
  7. 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?

  8. Re:Critics by hyperz69 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I lived in Vegas 7 years. They NEED This. Even the expansion to 6 lanes between the cities was not enough. We are talking 400KM+ Of cars taillight to tailpipe on any given weekend! It's even a crazier route then VA to Washington DC.

  9. Re:Critics by Gregory+Arenius · · Score: 5, Informative

    Disney land is in the LA Metro area which has a population of about 13,000,000 people while LV has a metro area of about 1,700,000 people. Most of the land between the two is desert while most of the land between DC and NYC is populated making a right of way much more difficult to obtain there. The way the summary states that it connects to Disneyland, while possibly true, is really designed to be deceptive. It would have been much more honest if it said connects to LA and LV. There exists a huge amount of both car and air traffic between the two cities. Even with the high price of gas and a recent expansion of the highway between the two cities the roads are still clogged. While I don't know if maglev is the right technology a solid case for high speed rail between LA and NV can certainly be made.

    Cheers,
    Greg

  10. From Vegas to Mouse-land? by denzacar · · Score: 5, Funny

    It is not a train.

    Its a ride.

    --
    Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
  11. 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.

  12. Re:Infrastructure problems in the East prohibit by ChrisMaple · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Part of the reason that train speeds are severely limited is that they are built on the now-idiotic standard of a vehicle height exceeding 12 feet. Even though most of the mass is relatively low, the center of gravity could probably be cut by a factor of 3 if attention were paid to it. Trains should be 3 feet high and passengers loaded like peas in a pod. Then speeds would be limited by track roughness and other such factors, not tipping over because of centrifugal force.

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  13. 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.