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American Maglev Technology submits proposal to build magnet-powered light rail in Virginia Beach

Posted at 11:23 PM, Nov 13, 2013
and last updated 2013-11-14 06:32:27-05

Virginia Beach, Va. - A cheaper to build, less expensive to run train system gliding above Virginia Beach may sound too good to be true.

People in Hampton Roads have heard it before. American Maglev Technology, the company behind the failed monorail at Old Dominion, has submitted a proposal to build an extensive system from the Oceanfront to the Norfolk border.

The monorail may have been elevated, but the project never got off the ground.

AMT says it learned from what went wrong with the ODU project, and its technology has grown exponentially.

Now it's ready to bring its magnet-powered light rail to Virginia Beach. But it wouldn't fully connect with Norfolk's Tide.

"Don't make no sense. Don't make no sense. why not run the light rail all the way to Virginia Beach?" Tony Person said.

AMT's plan calls for extending the Tide past the Newtown border, then having its magnet-powered line run on a platform above.

Passengers getting off the Tide would get on an escalator and then you'd get on what AMT is calling the Wave.