El Paso, TX
Stop on the proposed 17,000-mile maglev network. Next stop: Las Cruces, NM (41.8 mi).
About El Paso
El Paso is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. It is the 23rd-most populous city in the U.S., sixth-most populous city in Texas, and the most populous city in West Texas with a population of 678,815 at the 2020 census. The El Paso metropolitan area has an estimated 879,000 residents.
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 terminal (parametric range $1–2B) | $1.5B |
| Land acquisition | Regional factor 0.7× on $200M base | $140M |
| Track: El Paso → Las Cruces | 41.8 mi × $500M/mi | $20.9B |
| Annual operations (share) | Staffing, power, maintenance | $30M/yr |
| Stop total (excl. annual ops) | $22.5B |
Best terminal location (proposed)
The downtown Union Depot district. El Paso's historic Union Depot already anchors intercity rail on the border, sits beside the Sun Metro Brio rapid-transit corridor, and the surrounding downtown blocks offer room to build without displacing neighborhoods. It also draws a unique binational catchment from Ciudad Juárez across the river.
Before / after
Aerial mock-up (illustrative, not an engineering rendering). Left: the proposed site today. Right: with the maglev terminal.
- Anthony, TX/NM — border town straddling the state line on I-10.
- Canutillo, TX — small community in the upper Rio Grande valley.
- Mesquite, NM — tiny farming village along the Rio Grande south of Las Cruces.