> There used to be a MagLev train at Birmingham International,
> taking people between the railway station and the airport.  I
> went on it many years
> ago, but I understand it was taken out of service due to being
> too expensive to maintain.  I thought low maintenance was one of
> the reasons for it -
> no wear and tear on the tracks!
compared to high speed rail certainly (the ammount of maintinace the tracks
need for the bullet train is insane)

but i strongly suspect that maglev has a lot of maintinace costs that are
more or less fixed per year its kept in operaion (e.g. weather damage) and
that for a short distance shuttle it is a lot more expensive to maintain
than a crude narrow gauge rail line (or even a crude standard gauge line)
and over those distances speed isn't a major issue.

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