http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marge_vs._the_Monorail

The obvious efficiency comparison is with non-maglev high-speed rail and that shows at best a marginal benefit at higher speeds, which is academic here in the UK as we don't have anything remotely resembling high-speed trains.

A more useful comparison is with short-haul air travel, which is horrendously innefficient in terms of greenhouse gas emissions per passenger-km. The reason passengers like myself prefer air over rail on short-haul routes is journey time. I'd rather fly from Edinburgh to London thatn take the train: over a distance of ~800km the train gets me from town centre to town centre in 6 hours by train while the plane trip takes about 3 hours including checkin and time to get to and from airports. I'll happily take the train if it gets me from a central station to a central station in under 3 hours. More legroom, better bar, no mobile phone bans, no checkin queues, better toilets etc.

Trains are vastly more environment friendly than planes so moving those short-haul journeys from air to maglev could bring serious environmental benefits, not least reducing the rampant growth of airports.

You say the sweetest things Lucy! :)

The accident in Germany is no argument against Maglev.

Not leaving maintenance vehicles parked in the way of *any* sort of train is a good idea and having adequate safety precautions to stop this happening is what is needed, on Maglev *or* metal rails.

..that England is completely unable to invest in this new technology. It'd sure make getting around the country a breeze and allow us to not take internal flights. Plus it'd reduce the need to drive everywhere. Insert phrases about being the last one to turn out the lights here.