Advocating Fast, Reliable, Safe, Clean, Quiet & Sustainable Maglev Transport
NAMTI is a Washington, DC registered non-profit educational institute (we are presently filing for federal 501(c)(3) status) created to increase the exposure and level of understanding of magnetically levitated (maglev) transport.
NAMTI’s core position is that maglev is not rail technology and therefore should not be under the domain of the FRA, which is predominantly a slow-rail safety agency schooled on mechanical systems. Maglev is not a mechanical transport system, it is electronic, and therefore outside the area of expertise of those who staff the FRA. Auto repair shops don’t work on computers, so why is maglev under the FRA?
NAMTI members and supporters comprise of two groups: one that consists of travelers who simply want highly reliable, all-weather transport at a reasonable price, and the other includes a highly educated international cadre of scientists, engineers and academics who well understand the many advantages maglev transport has over regional air transport and traditional high maintenance rail transport (HMR), whether fast or slow. This is due to maglev’s dramatically lower annual maintenance needs or costs.
Frequent and costly maintenance is the very subject that is the Achilles’ Heel of fast HMR trains. The fact that maglev transport can travel safely at speeds in excess of 300 mph (500 km/h) without any “speed/maintenance penalty,” gives it clear superiority in both economic and reliability terms to HMR.
It is evident to those of us who are familiar with both HMR and maglev technology that the recent push in the United States for high-speed HMR, exclusive of maglev, is driven purely by rail lobbyists and not on fact-based scientific or engineering analysis. To that end, NAMTI is committed to refuting the many maglev myths being circulated by the rail community, not the least of which is their claim that maglev is “too expensive” or “unproven.” NAMTI emphatically denounces those claims and challenges the U.S. DOT to fund the construction of a maglev line in the U.S. to demonstrate that America can still embrace, design, improve and build new transportation technology on a large scale.
No more studies are needed. Data is available on the latest versions of maglev technology – IF people want to find it. Maglev is being built and deployed in other countries. The Chinese have 8 years of solid experience in operating a high-speed maglev with 99.97% on-time – to the second – reliability and are now deploying low-speed maglevs. The Germans have developed modularized guideways to make maglev infrastructure cheaper to build than fast HMR elevated lines. The Japanese are building their next high-speed Shinkansen line between Tokyo and Nagoya using their superconducting MLX-01 technology and have operated a commercial 5.6-mile 9-station low-speed maglev in Nagoya since March of 2005, also with 99.97% on-time – to the second – reliability.
North America needs to deploy maglev now to enable all-weather travel and to improve the reliability of intercity travel in North America to 21st century standards.
NAMTI also implores the U.S. DOT to reinstate the position of Chief Maglev Scientist, which it allowed to expire in 2005 with the retirement of Dr. John Harding. However, NAMTI would like to see this new position in a new maglev agency, not in the FRA; which is predominantly a rail safety agency for freight railroads and the slow and notoriously unreliable Amtrak system.
How can the U.S. and state governments make any credible or informed decisions regarding maglev technology versus fast HMR when they do not employ chief maglev engineers or a team of professionals who are fully informed on maglev technology? The short answer is: they cannot.