Eugene, OR
Stop on the proposed 17,000-mile maglev network. Next stop: Salem, OR (61.5 mi).
About Eugene
Eugene is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about 50 miles (80 km) east of the Oregon Coast and approximately 110 miles south of Portland.
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 ($1–2B range) | $1.5B |
| Land acquisition | Regional factor 1.5× on $200M base | $300M |
| Track: Eugene → Salem | 61.5 mi × $500M/mi | $30.8B |
| Annual operations (share) | 2% of $1.5B terminal | $30M/yr |
| Stop total (excl. annual ops) | $32.5B |
Best terminal location (proposed)
The Eugene Amtrak station / downtown district. Eugene's downtown Amtrak station already hosts the Cascades and Coast Starlight on the Willamette Valley corridor. The downtown riverfront and station-area parcels offer redevelopment room. The catchment is the University of Oregon, the state government satellite offices, and the valley's 380,000+ metro residents.
Before / after
Aerial mock-up (illustrative, not an engineering rendering). Left: the proposed site today. Right: with the maglev terminal.
- Albany — historic Willamette Valley mill town on I-5.
- Woodburn — outlet-retail city on the corridor.
- Brooks — small community on the northern approach to Salem.