ODU keeps maglev train project alive with funding

The funding from Old Dominion University’s Office of Research follows the last round of federal funding. A $2 million Federal Railroad Administration grant ran out in mid-May without producing a working prototype of a low-cost magnetically levitating train, or maglev.

Maglev uses magnets to float a train over elevated tracks.

ODU scientists contend that they’re close to a breakthrough and they’ve volunteered their time for the past month.

American Maglev Technology Inc. and partners that include Lockheed Martin Corp. promised in 1999 to deliver a working maglev transportation system by the fall of 2002.

But technical glitches, cost overruns, unpaid bills and lawsuits derailed the project and the train sat idle for nearly two years. The train levitated and moved, but instead of floating on a cushion of air, it bumped, rattled and vibrated.

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