Palmdale, CA
Stop on the proposed 17,000-mile maglev network. Next stop: Lancaster, CA (7.8 mi).
About Palmdale
Palmdale is a suburban city in northern Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city lies in the Antelope Valley of Southern California. The San Gabriel Mountains separate Palmdale from the Los Angeles Basin to the south.
Source: Wikipedia summary (full article). Population and facts as published there.
Cost breakdown (proposal-scale estimates — see math)
| Item | Basis | Estimate |
|---|---|---|
| Terminal construction | Large-city terminal (range $2–4B) | $3B |
| Land acquisition | Regional factor 1.5× on $200M base | $300M |
| Track: Palmdale → Lancaster | 7.8 mi × $500M/mi | $3.9B |
| Annual operations (share) | Staffing, power, maintenance | $60M/yr |
| Stop total (excl. annual ops) | $7.2B |
Best terminal location (proposed)
the Palmdale Transportation Center district. The existing Palmdale Transportation Center already links Metrolink, Amtrak Thruway and local buses, and California High-Speed Rail has long planned its own station here, so a maglev terminal would inherit a ready-made intermodal hub. The surrounding rail corridor offers some of the most buildable land in the Antelope Valley. It also captures the whole Lancaster–Palmdale commuter shed of nearly half a million people.
Before / after
Aerial mock-up (illustrative, not an engineering rendering). Left: the proposed site today. Right: with the maglev terminal.
- Quartz Hill — hillside suburb of Lancaster directly on the corridor, already a commuter shed for both cities.
- Antelope Valley Mall / Avenue K area — retail core on Lancaster's west side with a dense park-and-ride catchment.
- The 10th Street West corridor — mid-corridor commercial strip suited to a small infill platform.