Knoxville, TN
Stop on the proposed 17,000-mile maglev network. Next stop: Chattanooga, TN (100.5 mi).
About Knoxville
Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Located on the Tennessee River within the Appalachian Mountains, it is the largest city in the Grand Division of East Tennessee. Knoxville had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most-populous city in Tennessee.
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 1.0× on $200M base | $200M |
| Track: Knoxville → Chattanooga | 100.5 mi × $500M/mi | $50.2B |
| Annual operations (share) | Staffing, power, maintenance | $30M/yr |
| Stop total (excl. annual ops) | $52.0B |
Best terminal location (proposed)
The downtown World's Fair Park / Henley Street corridor. World's Fair Park sits on the I-40/I-275 interchange with the Sunsphere as a landmark, and the Henley Street corridor connects downtown to the University of Tennessee. The former rail yards nearby offer guideway approaches, and the site captures both downtown and campus demand.
Before / after
Aerial mock-up (illustrative, not an engineering rendering). Left: the proposed site today. Right: with the maglev terminal.
- Lenoir City, TN — Loudon County suburb on the I-75 corridor.
- Sweetwater, TN — Monroe County town in the valley.
- Cleveland, TN — Bradley County hub north of Chattanooga.