This appeared in the 07/07/08 issue of NASA Tech Briefs Insider. They have a weekly question and post a sampling of the answers. Don't expect anything explosive here. I just thought there might be some interest in scraps:
Last week's Question of the Week concerned the future of high-speed railroads in the U.S. A transportation bill recently signed by President Bush includes $45 million to fund a magnetically levitated railroad that would whisk passengers
between Anaheim, CA, and Las Vegas, NV, at speeds up to 300 mph. Opponents of the plan argue that magnetically-levitated trains require erecting costly new infrastructure and the funds would be better spent upgrading the country's existing railways. We asked if you thought the U.S. should develop magnetically-levitated railroads. Sixty-nine percent of you said yes while 31 percent said no. Here's more of what you had to say:
"Our inept government cannot even operate the trains we have now. How could they possibly build and maintain a sophisticated Maglev system?" Simon
"I have ridden on some of the maglev trains in Japan and China. They are excellent. America is being left in the dust by other countries. Such trains would be a welcome alternative to our creaking airline industry." John R. Sans
"If this is such a great idea why aren't the states of CA and NV paying for it themselves? I'm in FL and need my money to go towards hurricane preparedness." Dave
"There are two aspects to maglev: the high speed intercity train described above and the urban people mover. It is the urban people mover that should be developed to get us away from gridlock and the curse of burning petroleum." Bob Landsman
I should point out that there are several tough climbs when driving from the LA area to Las Vegas. These include Cajon Pass with a summit at 4190 feet (Anaheim is essentially at sea level and Las Vegas is at around 2000 feet). Las Vegas is threatened by deepening drought and sharp home price drops. Possibly the MAGLEV, if operational in time, could provide a new escape route for fleeing residents.
