EVACUATED TUBE TRANSPORTATION, ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT

This preliminary study compares the relative merits of a 966 km/h HSGT system employing permenent magnet (PM) suspension and a subterranean, evacuated tube guideway, with a 483 km/h atmospheric surface system being considered for the NEC route. The results indicate that the increased patronage of the higher speed system, would much more than compensate for the tunneled guideway expense. Greatly superior profitability is accompanied by environmental advantages and perhaps as much as an order of magnitude less energy consumption. Additionally, various magnetic levitation approaches are compared for evacuated tube systems. Levitation energy battery requirements approximate one-seventh the vehicle weight and magnetic drag losses greatly exceed that for PM. If more extensive PM system studies confirm these preliminary results and that track magentization adjustment frequency is reasonable, as expected, and no major unforeseen problems develop, an evacuated tube system should best employ PM levitation.