(The following story by Tucker McQueen appeared on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution website on April 4.)
ATLANTA — People noticed something out of place last fall after leaves fell from trees along U.S. 278 in Cobb County.
Motorists glanced through bare branches in the woods and spied a futuristic-looking, white train car resting on rails about 20 feet high.
The elevated tracks and train are part of a multi-million-dollar venture in the fledgling technology of magnetic levitation. Advocates say maglev trains could one day whisk travelers from place to place at up to 300 miles an hour.
Tony Morris, president of American Maglev Technology, uses the train and track to demonstrate maglev travel to potential customers and investors.
Starting last July, he built 2,000 feet of track on a flat stretch between Austell and Powder Springs in southwestern Cobb County. Up to 35 employees work in two trailers a few hundred yards beyond the end of an inconspicuous gate and road.
Morris had hoped to keep development under wraps, but curious passers-by are finding a way to his door, Morris said, especially on days when the train zips along at speeds up to 60 mph.
Maglev trains float inches above a concrete and steel guideway, driven by electromagnetic force for propulsion. Supporters say maglev trains could alleviate congestion and pollution and give travelers a fast, safe way to travel between large cities. Skeptics say maglev costs too much, though Morris said he’s found a more affordable way to build maglev trains.
“People want better options, ” Morris said. “They are looking for fast, flexible and frequent.”
Maglev enthusiasts such as Tad Leithead have visited Morris’ site and come away impressed. Leithead is an Atlanta Regional Commission board member and chairman of the Cumberland Community Improvement District, a group of businesses that tax themselves to pay for traffic studies and infrastructure improvements.
While Leithead thinks maglev technology is five to seven years away from taking off, he envisions a high-speed train some day making stops in Buckhead and Cobb before heading north to Chattanooga.
Three years ago, the state received a $5 million federal grant to research a maglev route from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport to Lovell Field, Chattanooga’s airport. Chattanooga and the Cumberland Community Improvement District each put up $875,000 in matching grants and continue to look at high-speed travel between the two cities.
“Imagine a 10-minute ride from the airport to Cumberland,” Leithead said. “Maglev may be new technology, but it is very persuasive.”
Maglev trains operate in China, Japan and Germany, but only one — in Shanghai — is a commercial route.
There are several projects in development in the United States. Average costs of $40 million to $100 million a mile have hindered maglev’s success here, but Morris said his technology will lower costs to about $20 million a mile.
American Mag-Lev’s attempt at having the first system in this country stalled four years ago.
The company built elevated tracks at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va. with plans to whisk students one mile across campus in two minutes. Technical glitches plagued the project and Morris’ company pulled out four years ago. The university’s engineering school continues to work on the system.
The project’s $16 million price tag included a $7 million loan from Virginia taxpayers that American Mag-Lev pledged to repay with revenue from the working train. The state worries that it may never recoup its investment, but Morris said he plans to meet his obligation by starting another project in Virginia in the future.
The 49-year-old west Cobb County man and Georgia Tech graduate said working on cutting-edge technology hasn’t always been a smooth ride. Yet he believes maglev travel has too much promise to not continue trying to make it successful.
“Burgeoning technology is like making sausage,” said Morris. “We have survived. That shows that there is something there in what we are doing.”