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Midwest Hub

Columbus, OH

Stop on the proposed 17,000-mile maglev network. Next stop: Dayton, OH (89.4 mi).

About Columbus

Columbus is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a population of 905,748 at the 2020 census, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., second-most populous city in the Midwest, and third-most populous U.S.

Source: Wikipedia summary (full article). Population and facts as published there.

Cost breakdown (proposal-scale estimates — see math)

⚠️ All figures below are parametric estimates scaled from the proposal's own budget ($8.5T ÷ 17,000 mi ≈ $500M per mile), not engineering quotes. Methodology is shown so you can check the math.
ItemBasisEstimate
Terminal constructionLarge-city terminal (parametric range $2-4B)$3B
Land acquisitionRegional factor 1.5× on $200M base$300M
Track: Columbus → Dayton89.4 mi × $500M/mi$44.7B
Annual operations (share)Staffing, power, maintenance$60M/yr
Stop total (excl. annual ops)$48B

Best terminal location (proposed)

The former Union Station site downtown. Columbus's original Union Station stood where the convention center now rises - the rail approaches are still traceable and the Arena District around it already mixes offices, housing, and entertainment. A terminal here plugs into COTA's bus network and the densest job cluster in Ohio.

Before / after

Before and after aerial mock-up of the proposed maglev terminal at Columbus, OH

Aerial mock-up (illustrative, not an engineering rendering). Left: the proposed site today. Right: with the maglev terminal.

🛤️ Infill stops toward Dayton: the proposal envisions more stops than cities — smaller stations between majors. Plausible infills on this leg:
← All 287 stops