USA: We reported last year that Union Pacific had commissioned a study into an 8 km maglev conveyor to shuttle containers between the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and its Intermodal Container Transfer Facility.

Suitable technology is now under development in San Diego, where General Atomics has built a 120 m long test track. Unlike the Transrapid maglev in Shanghai, which uses electromagnets on the vehicles to achieve lift and linear motors for propulsion, General Atomics has adopted a passive technology, with the equipment in the guideway.

According to Sam Gurol, the company’s Director of Maglev Systems, ‘there have been great strides in the last 15 to 20 years in how much magnetic field permanent magnets can produce, allowing us to make a system entirely of passive permanent magnets for both levitation and propulsion.’

This avoids the need for an onboard power supply. ‘You have the moving magnetic field produced by the track, and the chassis just goes along for the ride.’

Meanwhile, UP’s study partner American Maglev Technology has completed a 500 m passenger-carrying test track near Marietta, Georgia, which uses onboard propulsion.
http://www.railwaygazette.com/nc/news/single-view/view/freight-maglev-on-test.html
http://atg.ga.com/EM/transportation/ecco/index.php