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Cheap Flight: A miniature FastTransit maglev train underwent successful tests last spring:  courtesy Launchpoint

Magic Rails

Magnetic-levitation trains are faster and quieter than conventional trains but prohibitively expensive because of the cost of buying land and building the electromagnetic tracks that lift and propel the vehicles. Now FastTransit, a company specializing in maglev tech- nology, is offering a more affordable approach: Mount neodymium-iron-boron magnets alongside existing train tracks, and install opposing magnets on the vehicles to float the trains without any power. Small electromagnets attached to the cars keep them positioned over the tracks and shift the cars left or right at a track switch. FastTransit estimates that a retrofitted system could cost $7 million to $10 million per mile to build -- a third of the cost of rival maglevs. And that's not including the savings in real estate and energy costs. On the heels of a successful small-scale study last spring, the company is moving ahead this year on a full-scale prototype and test track near Santa Barbara, California.