Germans eye deal on magnetic train technology

Tuesday, May 23, 2000 | 10:29 a.m.

A series of meetings this week may jump-start Nevada's chances for building the first link of a magnetic levitation train while keeping a German company developing the technology alive.

Four members of the German parliament, two German government administrators and representatives of Transrapid International, the developer, are in Las Vegas this week to tour the route of a proposed high-speed train that eventually could run between the city and Anaheim, Calif.

To members of the California-Nevada Super Speed Train Commission, the meetings represent the hope that the Germans are impressed enough with the two states' commitment to the project to invest in it.

To Transrapid, the meetings are a glimmer of hope that a project that was shot down by the German government as too expensive in January can be resurrected as a demonstration that the technology can work successfully commercially. Ultimately, Transrapid could license or sell the technology in the United States.

The German government, which is in a public-private partnership with Transrapid, also hopes to keep engineers at work on the technology after determining that a proposed project between Hamburg and Berlin would not generate enough riders to make the project economically feasible.

Neil Cummings, who represents the American Magline Group, the U.S. affiliate of Transrapid, said the Hamburg-to-Berlin maglev proposal grew out of optimism that the fall of the Berlin Wall would generate a new wave of commerce between the East and West.

But that failed to materialize as rapidly as expected and the Hamburg-Berlin route, already served by a high-speed train and several airlines, wouldn't be able to support the more expensive maglev, German officials determined.

Cummings also said existing train companies are fighting the maglev plan to protect their own market share.

"Once the Hamburg-Berlin project was killed, they (the Germans) determined that they wouldn't be able to make an assessment on a new project in Germany for at least two to three years and get anything built for at least five or six years," Cummings said.

Enter the California-Nevada proposal.

The 272-mile project would cost about $6.8 billion. Local officials hope to build it in three phases, the first being a 42-mile section between Las Vegas and Primm.

But most importantly to the Germans, construction could begin as early as January 2002 with the minimal right-of-way acquisition and environmental problems associated with the desert route.

Magnetic levitation trains are propelled by electromagnetic force generated by electricity along the guideway. Trains hover just above the guideway track and the lack of friction enables the train to reach speeds of up to 300 mph.

Mayors of cities along the length of the route and U.S. government leaders hosted a reception for the German delegation Monday and were scheduled to escort the lawmakers to Primm today to show them what would be the first 42 miles of the maglev train's route.

The German government is considering investing in the Nevada project because it wants to showcase the technology to a world audience, and the more than 35 million visitors to Las Vegas represent the numbers the Germans want to reach.

Jack Libby, chairman of the California-Nevada Super Speed Train Commission (CNSSTC), said the German visit was arranged after a commission delegation went to Germany earlier this year and rode a prototype of the train on a 20-mile test track near Hamburg.

"They have the technology ready to go and we have a route for the track and a large audience to showcase their technology," Libby said. "They asked me how much we would need to get things started and I gave them a figure ($500 million)."

Libby is optimistic about a deal because the Las Vegas-to-Primm route is the only one in the United States being visited in person by the Germans. The delegation plans to meet with six other states that have maglev proposals in Los Angeles after they leave Las Vegas.

He said the German delegation also will visit a proposed site in Korea after that.

Currently, the CNSSTC is among seven groups seeking a $950 million U.S. government grant to build a maglev demonstration project in the United States. A detailed project description is due to the Federal Railroad Administration June 30. An environmental report also must be completed by the end of August. Libby said the CNSSTC is on schedule for completing the reports by the deadlines.

The Railroad Administration said it would narrow the field of seven to three in September. If the local bid survives the cut, it would come under more scrutiny with the agency making its final selection March 31.

If the Germans invest in the project, the money would be considered part of the local seed money necessary to get the project off the ground.

"They're (the German delegation) going to listen to our pitch, then look at the project in Korea, then go back to Germany and try to sort this out," Libby said.

CNSSTC officials say their site and proposal is the only one on which construction could begin by 2002.

The visiting members of parliament are all on budgetary committees that handle transportation matters.