Yeah,
And I just made a lot of money off netscape...
I'm sure people here have done well in other stocks...
IMG ought to be pushing MAGLEV...
To be honest I would not put money in the stock until they focus themselves on something...
They have super high tech but no direction...
Who else would benefit from maglev...
And what else are they going to use there stuff for near term...
They ought to be strong arming this not only in New York but other places as well...
MAGNETIC TRAIN IS CORRIDOR'S SUPER-FAST HOPE
BY Wendy Wagner
CR Times-Dispatch Staff Writer
WC 839 Words
CC 5519 Characters
PD 12/14/98
SN Richmond Times-Dispatch
ED City
PG B-1
CY (Copyright 1998)
LP Richmond to Washington in a half hour or less.
It can be done if you're traveling at speeds of 240 mph or more.
TD The latest proposal for high-speed train travel in Virginia is
unlike previous plans involving traditional trains running on steel
tracks.
Imagine zipping from Norfolk to Richmond along the Interstate 64
corridor, then heading north along Interstate 95 on a futuristic
vehicle being propelled at speeds of 240 to 300 mph by magnets and
electric pulses without the train ever touching the track. Instead,
the wheel-less train levitates on a magnetic field.
* American Maglev Technology Inc. of Marietta, Ga., wants to be the
first company in the nation to build a viable high-speed
electromagnetic train in a major highway corridor.
The company has joined Virginia Power and Lockheed Martin Corp.,
best known for building planes, to prove that magnetic-levitation
high-speed travel can be done in Virginia.
Japan and Germany are the only countries where the concept has
been successfully demonstrated in test projects.
Last week, the Richmond Metropolitan Planning Organization voted
unanimously to endorse the concept, a requirement under the federal
transportation funding act, known as TEA-21, that Congress passed
last spring.
Arlie A. Hahn Jr., program manager on the project for Virginia
Power, said planning organizations in Hampton Roads and
Fredericksburg also have endorsed the concept.
The three companies have until the end of December to enter their
application for $6 million in federal funds for a feasibility study
to see if such a project would be possible, physically or
financially, said Alan C. Tobias, senior rail transportation engineer
for the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation.
Tobias said the Federal Railroad Administration announced in mid-
October that it will pick five or six proposals nationwide to divide
up the total of $60 million in TEA-21 study funds by the end of
February.
* If the American Maglev project in Virginia is chosen, the three
companies will have until March 2000 to complete the study, Tobias
said.
Hahn said the consortium has been working on the project since
October 1997. The group wanted to build a test system in conjunction
with Virginia Tech's Smart Road project in the Blacksburg area. But
last month, Virginia Tech officials announced they were pulling out.
They said engineering faculty members decided most of the research
needed was already done and it would not benefit the university.
* The technology developed by American Maglev is less expensive and
better than the European attempts, Hahn said. He said the consortium
plans to break ground this spring on a $7 million test project in
Virginia Beach. That system would be a small-scale, low-speed
version of the one the company would build in the future from Hampton
Roads to Washington. It will have a two-mile elevated test track
running a magnetically-levitated vehicle at speeds of 70 mph or more.
"I need to emphasize that this is not a done deal," Hahn said,
adding the companies are working to hammer out final details with
officials in the Virginia Beach area.
High-speed rail travel proponents are a little skeptical that
* American Maglev, Lockheed Martin and Virginia Power will be
successful in promoting such a futuristic system in Virginia.
Richard L. Beadles is executive director of the Virginia High
Speed Rail Development Committee, a group of business and community
leaders united to promote high speed rail in Virginia to decrease
traffic congestion. He said magnetic levitation train systems are
good to study, but he's not sure the idea is realistic for several
reasons.
First, Beadles said, magnetic levitation technology was invented
30 years ago, but has never been financially viable. The German and
Japanese attempts are near being abandoned, he said, because costs
run anywhere from $50 million to $60 million per mile.
* American Maglev estimates it can build its system for $20 million
per mile, because the technology is different, the track is elevated
and runs parallel to existing highway corridors and the vehicle is
lighter.
But that's no bargain when compared to the $2.5 million to $3
million per mile costs for high speed rail using trains with steel
wheels on tracks.
"The cost difference is compelling," Beadles added.
He said it's also important to have a realistic view of Virginia's
traffic situation compared with other states.
* "We say maglev is a technology that ought to be pursued. It's a
good idea to study," Beadles said. "But I think we need to recognize
that the chances of this corridor being selected and this line being
built is such a long shot . . . it's important that we not forget the
planning and needs of other options."
* Hahn said the consortium is "further along than any other maglev
technologies." And the project managers feel confident about the
prospect of being picked for the federal study funds, he said.
"I suppose that we have been so optimistic that we will be
selected that we haven't really considered" otherwise, Hahn added,
saying if they are not chosen for the federal funds, the Virginia
group will not give up.
ART MAP
I0607 * End of document.
DOCUMENT 19 OF 863
AN PPGZ9834301961
SE LOCAL
HD * LOCAL CONSORTIUM MAY GET $7.5 MILLION FOR MAGLEV STUDY\ FEDERAL GRANT
CALLED A SURE BET
BY JOE GRATA, POST-GAZETTE STAFF WRITER
WC 406 Words
CC 2923 Characters
PD 12/05/98
SN Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
ED SOONER
PG A-12
CY (Copyright 1998)
LP It appears $7.5 million in state and federal funds is heading to
the area to fund the study of a high-speed magnetic levitation train
that would link Pittsburgh International Airport, Downtown and
Greensburg.
A Port Authority committee yesterday agreed to recommend to the
full board of directors a resolution that asks the Federal Railroad
Administration for a $5 million grant for planning and pre-
construction activities.
TD The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, which asked PAT to
sponsor the federal funds and oversee project studies, will provide
$2.5 million as a share of matching funds.
PAT will be the applicant, and a local consortium, Moon-based
* Maglev Inc., will be the recipient of the $7.5 million.
The federal grant seems a sure bet. U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-
Pa., visited the city in October to announce the funds would be
forthcoming.
* Maglev Inc. will study the feasibility, technology, alignment and
other facets of the first phase of a system it ultimately wants to
extend to Philadelphia. The first phase is the 45-mile airport-
Downtown-Greensburg line.
"While we're only charged with overseeing the high-speed effort,
it's a pretty exciting opportunity for Pittsburgh," said Bruce Ahern,
PAT's director of business development and planning.
* After two years, Maglev Inc.'s proposal will have to compete with
other groups planning magnetic levitation, high-speed train systems
in Georgia; Washington, D.C.; Nevada; Florida; and California. The
winner of the competition has a chance to receive $950 million in
federal funds to build its system.
* Maglev Inc. has been pursuing its project for about 10 years.
PAT's involvement has been peripheral to this point. "This doesn't
* mean we've embraced maglev as our project," said PAT general manager
Paul Skoutelas. "It's not anything you're going to see soon."
* Maglev trains, traveling at speeds nearing 300 mph, ride above
rails. Electric magnets in the track and train repel each other to
lift the trains about 2 inches above the track. Other magnets,
interacting with electronic circuitry, propel the trains.
The trains might turn a highway drive from the airport to Downtown
* into a six-minute rail trip. A Maglev trip from Greensburg to
Downtown would take about 12 minutes, including a stop in
Monroeville.
* Maglev Inc. differs from another locally-based group seeking a $1
* million grant through PAT to build a 10-mile low-speed maglev system
linking Oakland, Downtown and possibly the North Side.
PAT will be reimbursed for staff time and expenses for work it
* does for either maglev group.
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