Quote:
Originally Posted by JDRCRASH
^ I really think you're exaggerating the costs of Maglev. The transrapid cost $1 Billion for 19 miles, and even if you multiplied that by 150 (or basically from LA to NY), it would still cost only $150 Billion.
So, even tens of trillions for a national maglev system is a stretch, much less than "quintillions".
|
No, I was not. That cost would be in the open air, but air resistance limits a Maglev's speed beyond a certain envelope, which IIRC is about double wheeled-rail's maximum speed (friction, of course, further limiting the conventional technology).
To get a Maglev to go even faster (which it can), you're going to have to run it in a vacuum. There will be no air resistance then because there is no air. The expense of building--and maintaining--an ROW that is entirely vacuum-sealed (except for the stations, which would really be giant airlocks) would be phenomenally expensive. Even if I did overexaggerate a bit.
In the open air, a Maglev guideway will cost about the same as an equivalent stretch of elevated rapid transit; if you want more speed (and sooner or later, you're going to want more speed), you're going to need to couple the guideway costs with the costs of maintaining the frictionless vacuum environment necessary for the Maglev to perform at its top technical speed (probably an appreciable fraction of the speed of light).
That is a lot of money--and there is no need to go build anything like that anytime soon.