Salem, OR
Stop on the proposed 17,000-mile maglev network. Next stop: Portland, OR (43.9 mi).
About Salem
Salem is the capital city of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, which runs north through the city. The river forms the boundary between Marion and Polk counties, and the city neighborhood of West Salem is in Polk County.
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: Salem → Portland | 43.9 mi × $500M/mi | $21.9B |
| Annual operations (share) | 2% of $1.5B terminal | $30M/yr |
| Stop total (excl. annual ops) | $23.8B |
Best terminal location (proposed)
The Salem Amtrak station / Capitol Mall district. Salem's Amtrak station sits at the edge of the Capitol Mall — the seat of Oregon state government. The downtown and mall-area parcels offer a buildable civic footprint. The catchment is state government travel — legislators, lobbyists, and agencies shuttling between Salem and Portland — plus the metro's 430,000+ residents.
Before / after
Aerial mock-up (illustrative, not an engineering rendering). Left: the proposed site today. Right: with the maglev terminal.
- Woodburn — outlet-retail city on the I-5 corridor.
- Wilsonville — suburban employment center on the approach to Portland.
- Tualatin — south-metro industrial city.