Maglev to Duluth maybe?

"If we were smart at spending money (and we are not), this is the future we would paint for Minnesota. Keep the choo choo trains in the history books, and focus on Maglev technology." 

Maglev? Come on man! We just authorized a boatload of money to build a rickety old train up to Duluth! What was that? A train? That will never happen? No, probably not. But was it a good idea to set aside money for this thing? Again, probably not. I know the city planners in the Met Counsel hate to hear this, but here it goes again. Trains are so yesterday. People don't want them anymore. If it is riding into downtown, or taking a longer trip up to the casinos, I mean Duluth, people don't want to ride on yesteryear's transportation.

What is the big deal about the Maglev (Magnetic Levitation)? Been on a train lately? A bit rough is it? Like metal on metal. Why is that? That is the way they work. And they are slow and undependable. But a Maglev? It rides on air. No metal on metal. And because all that friction is gone, it can travel 300 (or higher) mph. 

Any drawbacks? First off, you need infrastructure for the Maglev. The batteries in the Maglev cars use a couple of Rare Earths - yttrium and scandium. For some countries, they can be hard to get and expensive. But those are the downsides. Everything else is positive. And - since the Maglev has been around for awhile, we know it works. 

If we were smart at spending money (and we are not), this is the future we would paint for Minnesota. Keep the choo choo trains in the history books, and focus on Maglev technology for the future. But no. We have a $2B train coming into Mpls from Eden Prairie which few will ride. Money down the toilet. The Northstar, all the LRTs, are a waste of time and money. 

For Minnesota, being the "brain state" we sure have trouble electing critical thinkers. Rather than how to kill the unborn, the discussion on Maglev could have produced fruit. But no. This session was a waste of time and money. Meanwhile, we have a couple hundred million dollars stuck aside for a technology which dates back to the 1800's. Oh, joy.