Think Big. Think REALLY Big.

February 7, 2008 at 12:00 am in LA

Wired’s Gadget Lab blog unveil’s “10 Sci-Fi Techs We Could Build If They Weren’t So Damn Expensive,” including building a moonbase ($105 billion), a transatlantic tunnel (up to $10 trillion), and android armies ($1 billion a battalion).

But what made me drool is a suggested New York – L.A. Maglev Express. At a reasonable $70 billion, these magnetically propelled trains could take you from coast to coast in five hours at speeds matching jet aircraft.

I’ll leave it up to a naysayer in the comments to do the math on how long it would take for paying customers to recoup the costs.

7 Comments »

http://www.rumorsdaily.com/ RumorsDaily

70 billion almost seems reasonable, actually. That’s about what it would cost to builds subways in LA… and actually disappointingly close to what it cost to build the Big Dig in Boston.

Seems like the issue would be security. Why bother blowing up planes when the trains will zip right by you at ground level.
http://www.marshallastor.com Marshall

I’m pretty sure high speed rail between the coasts (and other major cities) was a key component of Paul Tsongas’ campaign in 1992. Could have been paid for and half-built already…

$70 billion would be a steal for a service like this, especially if you could route it through other major cities like Chicago and D.C. on the way.
lee

I love the Maglev idea! Just don’t let City Hall get involved or it will actually end in Colton 8-)
alejo699

…but who the hell wants to go to LA?
David

Maglev surfboards above the freeways, powered by all the fitness gym equipment would be nice.
http://darleeneisms.la darleene

I love that idea almost more than the dream of flying cars…
Percival Cornelius

Rumorsdaily wrote:

Seems like the issue would be security. Why bother blowing up planes when the trains will zip right by you at ground level.

My God, you’re right. Thank heavens nobody has ever actually built one of these so-called “trains” that travel on the ground.

The GROUND, people! That’s RIGHT WHERE THE TERRORISTS ARE!!!!!@!@!@!

Think Big. Think REALLY Big.

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