NORFOLK, Va. — Technical and financial glitches have again delayed the much-anticipated debut of the nation’s first magnetic levitation train at Old Dominion University, pushing the likely launch date into next year, reports the Virginian-Pilot.
The opening, originally set for early September, had been postponed twice before — first to the end of that month and then to Nov. 15. Officials are not committing to a new date.
“We’re disappointed . . . but these are not fatal issues,” said Tony Morris, president of American Maglev Technology Inc. in Marietta, Ga. “We have a really great team and an overwhelming desire to get it right.”
American Maglev and its partners, Lockheed Martin and Dominion Virginia Power, have done what skeptics didn’t think was possible. They built an elevated guideway at ODU and developed a working maglev vehicle in just 18 months.
Officials say the project is 90 percent complete. The bullet-nosed vehicle levitates, hovering about a half-inch above the rail using magnets, and moves down the track.
But the ride is bumpy, and engineers need more time and money to fix the problem.
“We believe we have a way to smooth out the deviations,” said Thomas V. Radovich, who coordinates the project for Lockheed Martin in Orlando, Fla.
He said the train is reacting differently to the elevated guideway at ODU than it did on the ground at American Maglev’s Florida test track. Lockheed Martin engineers are working to tweak the train’s control system to adapt to the ODU guideway.
At worst, Radovich said, the guideway would need to be stiffened.
Because the project’s limited resources are focused on making the train run smoothly, construction has been suspended on the three platform stations along the route that stretches two-thirds of a mile through the center of campus.
The safety certification process, which includes 160 separate tests, is also on hold.
“This isn’t our first setback and probably won’t be the last,” Morris said. “It’s the nature of birthing new technology.”
Because no one has built a full-scale maglev system in this country before, American Maglev has encountered a few surprises along the way.
“There’s been some interesting little twists, and some of us are hurting a little bit now,” Morris said.
Because of the setbacks, the project is nearly out of money. A $7 million loan from the state and $7 million in private investment are mostly spent.
Lockheed Martin has committed to investing more money, however, and ODU and American Maglev are optimistic they’ll get a federal appropriation of up to $2 million.
The Senate’s proposed budget allocates $2 million to the project, while the House version does not list specific projects. The two chambers must still meet and work out their differences on the entire transportation spending bill, which is already late.
Morris said additional private investors are also being sought.
Until the money issues are resolved, the train is pretty much stalled.
“At this point, we’re keeping everything at a minimum at ODU while we watch what goes on in Washington,” Morris said. “We’re staying focused on our technology and our efforts in D.C.”