Cary, NC
Stop on the proposed 17,000-mile maglev network. Next stop: Raleigh, NC (8.1 mi).
About Cary
Cary is a town in Wake, Chatham, and Durham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina and is part of the Raleigh-Cary, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area. According to the 2020 census, its population was 174,721, making it the seventh-most populous municipality in North Carolina, and the 146th-most populous in the United States. In 2023, the town's population had increased to 180,010.
Source: Wikipedia summary (full article). Population and facts as published there.
Cost breakdown (proposal-scale estimates — see math)
| Item | Basis | Estimate |
|---|---|---|
| Terminal construction | Small city — metro tier (range $0.5–1B) | $750M |
| Land acquisition | Regional factor 1.5× on $200M base | $300M |
| Track: Cary → Raleigh | 8.1 mi × $500M/mi | $4B |
| Annual operations (share) | Staffing, power, maintenance | $15M/yr |
| Stop total (excl. annual ops) | $5.1B |
Best terminal location (proposed)
The downtown Cary Depot district. Cary's historic depot already serves Amtrak in a downtown undergoing rapid densification, with surrounding blocks ripe for transit-oriented development. The terminal would give the Triangle's western suburbs a walk-up station and relieve pressure on Raleigh's hub.
Before / after
Aerial mock-up (illustrative, not an engineering rendering). Left: the proposed site today. Right: with the maglev terminal.
- West Raleigh (NC State area) — university district on the corridor.
- The PNC Arena district (Raleigh) — event venue complex west of downtown.
- Crossroads (Cary) — mixed-use node on I-440.