Mobile, AL
Stop on the proposed 17,000-mile maglev network. Next stop: New Orleans, LA (131.3 mi).
About Mobile
Mobile is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 census and estimated at 204,689 following an annexation in 2023, making it the second-most populous city in Alabama. The Mobile metropolitan area, with an estimated 412,000 people, is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the state.
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: Mobile → New Orleans | 131.3 mi × $500M/mi | $65.7B |
| Annual operations (share) | Staffing, power, maintenance | $30M/yr |
| Stop total (excl. annual ops) | $67.4B |
Best terminal location (proposed)
The downtown GM&O building / waterfront terminal district. Mobile's historic GM&O terminal building on the waterfront is the natural intercity rail site, where the restored Gulf Coast Amtrak service will call. The adjacent port rail corridors give guideway approaches, and the site serves the port, Airbus, and the coastal tourism market.
Before / after
Aerial mock-up (illustrative, not an engineering rendering). Left: the proposed site today. Right: with the maglev terminal.
- Daphne, AL — Eastern Shore suburb across Mobile Bay.
- Biloxi, MS — Gulf Coast casino resort city.
- Gulfport, MS — Mississippi's second-largest city on the corridor.