All the hype is transporting me back to the turn of the millenium and a certain other “transport revoloution” that went by the name of Project Ginger.

Hmm, I wonder what happened to that?

er, don’t we already have large metal things that whisk us round the country at nearly 700mph? (they are called planes). The cost of energy would have to get enourmous for the small savings in fuel to outweigh the massive extra infrastructure required? (assuming you can get planning permission for it, which in the UK you can’t…. (it’s taken 20 years to not quite decide on putting a normal train track between London and a few other places)

assuming you can get planning permission for it, which in the UK you can’t

Well, considering that if you bribe the right people you can drive a railway line right through the middle of the Chilterns I think planning permission is the least of the problems in the UK.

It was proposed in my Usborne book about 30 years ago. And I think that was a reprint.

maxtorque – Member
er, don’t we already have large metal things that whisk us round the country at nearly 700mph? (they are called planes)…

The idea is to be cheaper and faster than the very expensive (and slow) railway that’s being built between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

And Elon Musk is building small scale test track, to prove it.

It’s pretty cool really.

It’s sort of cool.

But is it as cool as Maglev? 😀

Maybe, but neither are as cool as a monorail…

It’s sort of cool.

But is it as cool as Maglev?

Been on a Maglev train during a power failure, a moving train going from levitating and moving to firmly planted on the ground and stationary pretty much instantaneously was a remarkable experience, not sure it was a cool one though 🙂

That never happened on Railroad Tycoon 2.

looks like the futur(ama) has arrived