Maglev To “Lift Off” In 2003

Train poised to propel Old Dominion into history

By Jennifer Mullen

With a couple of keystrokes on a computer, Old Dominion’s maglev (short for magnetic levitation) transportation system successfully completed its first propulsion tests on the campus’s elevated guideway in August, the first of many tests that are taking place leading up to the official “liftoff” ceremony sometime next year.

A proposed solution to the country’s transportation problems, the system features a train-like vehicle that rides on an electromagnetic cushion of air atop an elevated guideway. Partners in the project include Dominion Virginia Power, Lockheed Martin and the commonwealth of Virginia.

Once in operation, the 45-foot-long maglev car will run continuously back and forth throughout the day, shuttling up to 100 passengers at a time from one end of campus to the other. The vehicle will travel at speeds up to 40 miles per hour along the 3,200-foot-long, 13-foot-high guideway.

The route runs east from Powhatan Avenue, through the center of campus and across Hampton Boulevard to the parking area between the Technology Building and the new Ted Constant Convocation Center. Stations with stairs and elevators will be located near Whitehurst and Powhatan residence halls, Webb Center and the Constant Center parking lot.

The trip from end to end is expected to take about 2 1/2 minutes, including the stop at Webb Center. There will be no charge to ride.

Previously scheduled for Nov. 15, the liftoff ceremony is on hold due to a delay in federal funding for the project. While the project is near completion, federal funds are needed to finish work on the ODU demonstration site.

Maglev, like all other transportation programs in the 2003 Federal Transportation Bill, still awaits Congressional approval. Passage was expected in time for the new fiscal year, which started Oct. 1, but efforts on the federal level have been delayed, pushing the maglev project behind schedule.

Completion of the three campus stations, technical efforts to enhance ride quality and final system certification are the tasks that remain to be accomplished. The maglev team is currently focusing its resources, including significant additional commitments from Lockheed Martin for control system refinement, on these tasks.

The good news, according to Tony Morris, American Maglev Technology president, is that the project is approaching completion within the original budget plan. Expenditures to date are approximately $14 million, with expected completion estimated at about $16 million.
Initially, the project was estimated to be a $21 million effort, with $7 million in contributions each from the commonwealth of Virginia, the federal government and the private sector. The project was launched with a $16 million budget after $7 million in commitments was received from both the state and private sector, with the balance to be obtained from federal appropriations.

With the support of Virginia and other key congressional representatives, the Senate Appro- priations Committee has proposed allocating $2 million in its version of the 2003 Transportation Bill. The House version is anticipated to provide an equal or greater amount, with the final version of the bill, through joint committee, providing sufficient funding to complete the maglev project and, potentially, allowing expansion of maglev technology activities at Old Dominion.

With anticipated federal funding, the $7 million from the state and the now projected $8 million-plus from the private sector, the maglev team expects to extend its agreement with the university to create a National Maglev Technology Deployment Center.

The center would serve as a national and international resource for deployment of next-generation urban transportation projects utilizing new technology. The maglev team also expects to locate an experimental division on campus for further development of its technology.

The Old Dominion maglev system will serve as a demonstration site to make a case for a future project connecting Hampton Roads and Washington, D.C. It is estimated that a maglev passenger service could make the trip in less than an hour.

The cars will be able to move quietly at high speeds, producing no air pollution. Systems can be built above existing rights-of-way.

Although maglev demonstration projects have been in place in Germany and Japan for a number of years, the American Maglev Technology system aims to be considerably less expensive to build and run. Unlike the systems in Germany and Japan, the ODU maglev “brain” is in the vehicle instead of the track, so little maintenance is required on the guideway itself.


How It Works . . .

The heart of the maglev is its 12 300-plus-pound magnets. Six position sensors project a beam onto the track, and a computer on board the vehicle deciphers the measurements and instructs the maglev vehicle to rise, or levitate, 3/8 of an inch above the track.

A linear induction motor is then used to propel the vehicle forward. Once it gets going, not much is needed to keep it moving since it, in effect, is flying. In fact, maglev uses a third less energy than a high-speed train traveling at the same rate.

As for the strength of the magnetic field created to move the vehicle, it’s comparable to the power needed for a couple of hair dryers, a toaster and a sewing machine!