Originally Posted by
nivsy
Mmmm...and certainly cannot compete with the Munich Airport plan of the "Transrapid" monorail magnetic levitation train link. A floating train at speeds of up to 270mph to wisk one into the Bavarian capital in 10 minutes
The Geman Transrapid Maglev has lost most of its impetus, and indeed a number of its chief technical staff, following the disasterous accident on the test track last year.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/5370564.stm
It's an inappropriate "isolationist" technology compared to say the TGV which is able to run onto perfectly ordinary railway tracks once off its dedicated route. Imagine what a flop motorways would have been if you had to buy separate cars of a different technical spec to use on them, not able to run onto normal roads and vice-versa.