A 5-7km pilot stretch of magnetic levitated railway (maglev) at an estimated cost of €80m-€85m (£70m-£74m) could be in use within two years, Dirk Stettner, the parliamentary faction leader of the Christian Democrats (CDU) has said, citing the advantages of a magnetic train above the existing, extensive underground and overground networks.
At a time when Berlin’s transport company, the BVG, is so short of drivers that it has reduced its timetable by about 7%, Stettner said the fact that the train was self-driving as well as cheaper and easier to construct than an underground line was a further advantage.
But environmentalists have condemned the plans, countering CDU claims that the trains were futuristic and calling them expensive, energy-hogging and vain instead.
Monorail, monorail, MONORAIL! At least one train is still better than a thousand cars, in almost every situation.