|
|
LIMBA prez pitches maglev train system
Cheap speed in all weather, Fazio says; build 'em here, too
|
| | 
|  |
| |  | | 
| | | Ernie Fazio, president of Long Island Metro Business Action, spoke to legislators Friday about magnetic levitation transportation technology and its potential in our area. (click for larger version) | |
November 19, 2009 | 12:14 PM
A well-known Long Island business advocate pitched the benefits of superconducting magnetic-levitation trains for the local economy to Suffolk lawmakers Friday.
Maglev trains, as they are known, hover above magnetized tracks along which they are propelled at speeds of up to 300 miles per hour. The latest maglev technology can accelerate a train from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 11 seconds, and stop it faster than conventional trains through instant reversal of the magnetic pulses pushing the vehicle, according to Long Island Metro Business Action President Ernie Fazio, now also a spokesman for the private concern Maglev 2000. Fazio promoted the company's transportation system before the Suffolk Legislature's Economic Development, Higher Education and Energy Committee at the invitation of its chairman, Legislator Wayne Horsley (D-Babylon).
The concept, developed at Brookhaven National Laboratory in 1966 by Long Island scientists Gordon Danby of Wading River and James Powell of Shoreham, has been extensively employed in Asia, Fazio said. Maglev 2000 is Danby and Powell's firm.
In a partnership with the Town of Riverhead, Maglev 2000 is pursuing $59 million in federal stimulus funding to demonstrate the technology on three miles of unused Grumman track in Calverton in order to certify it for commercial use, he said. Second generation maglev technology suspends trains four to six and a half inches over the track, making the system "impervious to ice and snow," according to Fazio.
If implemented nationwide, maglev trains could render obsolete long-distance truck delivery, and even compete with airlines, conveying passengers and freight from East to West coasts in a single day, Fazio told lawmakers. Transportation costs are also potentially lower, with Maglev 2000 projecting a freight expense of $.07 per ton mile versus $.27 per ton mile via truck, he said.
In addition to new routes across the state and country, conventional rail on Long Island could be adapted to high-speed maglev relatively easily by outfitting existing trains with magnetic pads, according to the spokesman. Further, as the site of the technology's invention and testing, Fazio would also like to see Long Island become its manufacturing center.
Fazio's pitch was less of a request for funding than a glimpse of what may come, as he said Maglev 2000 plans to fully fund its transportation systems privately. Unlike conventional rail in the U.S., most of which is public or relies on government funding to survive, the high-speed freight service would make freestanding maglev enterprises economically viable, Fazio maintained. "This can operate without subsidy because its profitability in freight is so great," he said.
However, he is seeking government support to attract the potential maglev manufacturing firms to locate on the Island. "I don't want Long Island to miss out on the opportunity to build this," Fazio said. "I just think it's tens of thousands of jobs."
While impressed with maglev's potential, county lawmakers questioned its applicability for Long Island rail transportation. Citing the technology's emphasis on high speeds, Legislator Vivian Viloria-Fisher (D-Port Jefferson) asked, "Would this be practical for a place like Long Island where we have so many stops?" Maglev trains would not have to travel at maximum speeds in order to improve upon the Long Island Railroad commute, Fazio responded, highlighting among other benefits the new technology's resistance to bad-weather delays and related expenses.
| |
|
|
|
| |
Copyright 2010
(631) 751-7744 | news@tbrnewspapers.com | www.northshoreoflongisland.com | About |
|
| |
|
