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Astntom, Maglev technology seem great transportation option but the amount of energy necessary to move at high speeds increases exponentially as you go faster. In fact the stripped down train the French assembled for conventional high speed rail is a classic example. The locomotive power they required was mind boggling. Speed is expensive from a system
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Are you more interested in new technology or standards for light rail transit? One good source on the infrwastructure side is TCRP Report 57 Track Design Handbook for Light Rail Transit published by the Transportation Research Board. An interesting website is Light Rail Now www.lighrailnow.org . This past April there was also a APTA/TRB Joint Light
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Can you substantiate where you came up with this? "Maglev may cost more initially in construction costs and because it's a new technology. This initial cost will be offset quickly by its vastly lower O&M costs. It is still the CHEAPEST form of transporatation available per passenger mile, whether in the desert or elsewhere. Whereas a dual
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I really don't think it has to do with track standards, it has to do with the nature of passenger operations. Even Europe, which is touted for it passenger railway systems, are heavily subsidized. In the US many transits were the result of deregulation of the railroads going back to the Staggers Act. The freight railroads were losing money on passenger