Athens, GA
Stop on the proposed 17,000-mile maglev network. Next stop: Atlanta, GA (59.3 mi).
About Athens
Athens is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia. Downtown Athens lies about 70 miles (110 km) northeast of downtown Atlanta. The University of Georgia, the state's flagship public university and an R1 research institution, is in Athens and contributed to its initial growth.
Source: Wikipedia summary (full article). Population and facts as published there.
Cost breakdown (proposal-scale estimates — see math)
| Item | Basis | Estimate |
|---|---|---|
| Terminal construction | Mid-size city — metro tier (range $1–2B) | $1.5B |
| Land acquisition | Regional factor 1.0× on $200M base | $200M |
| Track: Athens → Atlanta | 59.3 mi × $500M/mi | $29.6B |
| Annual operations (share) | Staffing, power, maintenance | $30M/yr |
| Stop total (excl. annual ops) | $31.3B |
Best terminal location (proposed)
The downtown Athens Multimodal Center district. Athens's Multimodal Center already brings together city buses downtown, blocks from UGA's campus and the Classic City's music and food scene. The terminal would serve the university's tens of thousands of students plus the region's research economy, with the corridor west toward Atlanta following US-78.
Before / after
Aerial mock-up (illustrative, not an engineering rendering). Left: the proposed site today. Right: with the maglev terminal.
- Monroe, GA — Walton County seat on US-78.
- Conyers, GA — Rockdale County hub.
- Decatur, GA — DeKalb County seat.