At present it is 41 Amtrak miles from Baltimore to WASH. Acela non-stop northbound is 30 minutes and 40 southbound ( schedule padding ). The Mag lev route would probably go to another station location in Baltiimore ( shorter miles ) and maybe even WASH. Would these new stations even connect with WASH Metro or Baltimore MTA transit ? IMHO that alone is a non starter for project. You need the connecting passengers.
Have never seen a comparsion of the electric costs for maglev and regular HSR per seat mile
Mag lev probably would not be able to go quicker than 12 - 15 minutes ? If instead of maglev if NEC Wash - BAL was upgraded to 160 MPH we could expect time to be about 18 - 20 minutes including slowing and aceleration. 6 - 8 minutes time difference hardly noticeable.
Instead take the money to buy land and straighten BAL - WASH for 160 MPH operation. Spend some of the other money to upgrade MARC and have a wad left over. A lot of less real estate needed. Even so that real estate will cost plenty. Utility moves for any separate ROW will be enormous.
+ EIS much more costly and time delaying.
After this demonstration projects fails and is put out of it's misery (soon after all concern parties have milked it dry for their pay-offs and/or golden parachutes), it probably go the way of the first commerical Mag-Lev project in Birmingham, UK and be replaced with...CABLE CARS (seriously).
Or when someone throws a beer can on it.
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"A stranger's just a friend you ain't met yet." --- Dave Gardner
How well will it work where it can be covered in snow and ice?
As has been pointed out elsewhere, land acquisition is going to be a major obstacle. Maglev is everybody's darling because it looks futuristic and has a lot of the "gee-whiz" aura found in the pages of "Popular Science".
Will a northeast maglev ever be built? The Maryland governor likes the idea but comments are largely negative.
http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2015/06/08maglevmaryland
Mr Haddad seems to be well qualified. Central Japan Railway is constructing a line from Tokyo to Nagoya, which is projected to be operational in 2027. As I recall, Japan has $5 billion to help make the northeast maglev a reality. What will probably be the alignment, if further investment is approved, and how would this affect Amtrak and others? 311 mph is really fast.
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nazih-haddad-joins-the-northeast-maglev-as-executive-vice-president-300019977.html
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