|
High-Speed Ground Transportation Between Chattanooga and Nashville
View this Map Larger
The Enterprise Center in Chattanooga, Tennessee, together with its consultants ARCADIS U.S., Inc. and Commonwealth Research Associates, LLC, is conducting a Feasibility Study for a high-speed ground transportation (HSGT) project in Tennessee between Chattanooga and Nashville using maglev technology.
Maglev, short for magnetic levitation, is an advanced passenger and freight transport technology in which electronics and magnetic forces lift, guide, and propel the train over an elevated track, called a guideway. Using all-electric power and state-of-the-art control systems, the need for wheels is eliminated, allowing for contact-free travel, excellent acceleration and braking rates, and cruising speeds from 60 to 100 miles per hour in urban applications up to 250 to 300 miles per hour for intercity routes. Maglev trains are presently in commercial operation in Shanghai, China, and Nagoya, Japan, and are in final planning for Munich, Germany.
Passengers would be able to travel between Chattanooga and Nashville in record times, with the ability to relax or work in a modern, aircraft-like passenger car.
The current project is a Feasibility Study. Possible routes and station locations for the maglev train between Chattanooga and Nashville will be researched. Currently, plans are to connect the major airports, downtown areas, and points in between. Connecting these locations will provide safe, reliable, clean, and efficient traveling for passengers in and out of the Chattanooga and Nashville metropolitan areas. All passengers will enjoy a technology-savvy environment, as all maglev cars will be equipped with wireless high-speed Internet access and will be cell-phone friendly. Whether traveling for business or pleasure, passengers will especially appreciate the 99.9% schedule reliability that passengers in Shanghai, China, currently enjoy.
The Chattanooga-Nashville maglev project is part of a larger transportation plan to connect Atlanta, Chattanooga, and Nashville with high-speed trains. Additional HSGT systems are in planning phases throughout the southeast. The Chattanooga-Nashville maglev line is one connection within a larger network of proposed transportation alternatives throughout the U.S.
The primary goals for this mode of transportation are safety, reliability, speed, environmental friendliness, and a reduction in traffic congestion. Maglev trains operate with zero emissions. By taking advantage of this new technology, Tennesseans will be responding to the nationwide call for an overall reduction in oil dependence.
|
