Braves train a longshot, record suggests | www.myajc.com

It’s an alluring idea: An environmentally friendly electric train built at no cost to taxpayers that would fly above traffic, shuttling Braves fans from MARTA to Turner Field.

But there are reasons to doubt whether the $30-million floating train line discussed by the Atlanta Braves and Marietta-based American Maglev Technology will ever come to fruition.

Despite a string of attempts over 20 years in at least three states, American Maglev — short for magnetic levitation — has never launched a functional train.

Two governments – one of them Cobb County – concluded the firm’s technology is not ready for commercial use. The project’s purported financial backer, Spanish construction giant Grupo A.C.S., didn’t respond to requests for comment. MARTA, which would have to be involved to make the link to Turner Field work, declined to say anything about it.

Yet the Braves see promise in the proposal, which would effectively deliver customers to their doorstep at no upfront cost to the team.

Mike Plant, a Braves vice president, says the team has been talking to American Maglev president and pitchman Tony Morris for four years and sees his plan as a viable way to address the lack of a MARTA rail stop at The Ted.

Plant said the main reason people don’t go to Braves games is traffic and transportation challenges.

“For 20 years (Morris) has been trying to sell this technology that uses the equivalent of eight toasters to move a train,” Plant said. “Its new, and new is something that is always a challenge. But to us, it looks like a viable solution someone else is willing to pay for backed by some pretty reputable global companies.”

The proposed line would run between the Georgia State MARTA station and the stadium and would take 18 months to build, according to American Maglev. Each vehicle could carry about 250 people and make the trip in about 90 seconds.

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