Gainesville, FL
Stop on the proposed 17,000-mile maglev network. Next stop: Jacksonville, FL (61.6 mi).
About Gainesville
Gainesville is a city in and the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, United States. It is the most populous city in North Central Florida with a population of 141,085 at the 2020 census, while the Gainesville metropolitan area has an estimated 360,000 residents. Gainesville is home to the University of Florida, the third-largest public university campus by enrollment in the United States as of the 2023–2024 academic year.
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: Gainesville → Jacksonville | 61.6 mi × $500M/mi | $30.8B |
| Annual operations (share) | Staffing, power, maintenance | $30M/yr |
| Stop total (excl. annual ops) | $32.5B |
Best terminal location (proposed)
The Depot Avenue district south of downtown. Gainesville's rail heritage runs through the Depot Avenue corridor, with industrial parcels south of downtown suited to a terminal build. The station would serve the University of Florida's tens of thousands of students and staff plus the region's medical district, anchoring the North Florida corridor.
Before / after
Aerial mock-up (illustrative, not an engineering rendering). Left: the proposed site today. Right: with the maglev terminal.
- Waldo, FL — historic rail junction on US-301.
- Starke, FL — Bradford County seat on the corridor.
- Lawtey, FL — small city on the US-301 corridor.