I have long advocated for the introduction of Maglev, but the present dysfunctionality of air travel helps me make the point that air travel is not, and cannot meet the needs of our modern society.

Snow storms of the magnitude we have seen lately makes airports dysfunctional. It also renders conventional rail useless. You may ask why Maglev would be any different. Here is why. Maglev is designed to operate on a guideway that is 30 feet off the ground. No conceivable amount of snow would hamper the movement of the vehicle. All of the electrical support is buried in the concrete of the guideway. Maglev is designed to operate central city to central city which means that passengers would not be stranded in the outskirts of the city if there would be any kind of failure.

In most every day transportation needs Maglev would save time when you consider time lost going to and from airports and the added time required for early arrival. You would be hard pressed to get to Boston or DC in less than 5 hours by air, but Maglev would be a little over an hour, and be in complete comfort

Maglev travels at 300+ MPH. A cross country trip would take longer than air but the comfort level would make it worth the extra time.

The energy bonus is that Maglev operates at 1/13 of the power of a conventional electric train.

Ernie Fazio