| Category | ETT | TR | Unit | Factor | Comment |
Cost |
| Guideway cost per km | $1.25 | $17 | $M/km | 13.6 | Use of higher cost material for ETT still produces big cost savings |
| Guideway cost per km / capacity | 7 | 580.2 | ($/km)/(p/hr) | 80.2 | Much better material utilization for ETT=huge reserve capacity for future growth |
| Guideway maintenance | 0.12 | 0.53 | cents/seat-km | 4.4 | Cost savings not as large due to maint of vacuum equipment |
| Station and Switch Cost | 7.3 | 175 | $millions | 24 | From China cost estimate reports |
| Station Capacity | 700 | 14400 | person/hr | 20.6 | 12 trains per hour for TR (1200seats each) |
| Station Cost / capacity | $10,429 | $12,153 | $/person/hr | 1.2 | ETT station cost advantage not as significant as other savings, ETT stations will be used closer to capacity due to 20 times better granularity of capacity |
| Vehicle cost per seat | $4,700 | $61,000 | $/seat | 13 | Use of small vehicle size pays off big - much lower tooling and production cost |
| Vehicle maintenance | 0.07 | 0.27 | cents/seat-km | 3.9 | Cost savings not as large due to maint of life support equipment |
Guideway |
| 2-way width | 1.8 | 7.9 | | 4.4 | |
| Land use | 525 | 2100 | m^2/km | 4 | |
| Mass of 24m span | 13 | 350 | ton | 26.9 | Big weight savings for ETT results in much lower construction costs |
| Mass of typical support | 2 | 90 | ton | 45 | Big weight savings for ETT results in much lower construction costs |
| min width | 1.8 | 2.8 | m^2 | 1.6 | |
| Tunnel Crossectional area | 12.6 | 225 | m^2 | 17.9 | Big cost savings for ETT when tunnels are needed |
Performance |
| Airlock Energy per seat | 10 | N/A | Wh/seat | | |
| Airlock Time | 30 | N/A | seconds | | all the other factors in favor of ETT more than compensate for the time lost in airlock cycling |
| Carbon dioxide emission | 0.622 | 33 | g/seat-km | 53.1 | |
| Cargo capacity | 3.6 | 1.02 | ton / sec | 3.5 | TR based on maximum 10 section train = 150t/147 seconds |
| Cooling Energy / seat | 50 | | Wh | | UNKNOWN for TR - said to be greater than levitation energy |
| Distance to accelerate | 1.13 | 22.6 | km | 20 | Less linear motor elements needed for ETT |
| Distance to stop | 1.13 | 10.4 | km | 9.2 | |
| External Sound Level | 20 | 90 | dB | 128 | times louder |
| Ice thickness buildup limit | n/a | 5 | mm | | |
| Kinetic Energy | 1.45 | 329 | kW-h | 226.9 | |
| Life-support Recharge / seat | 50 | N/A | Wh/seat | | ETT uses well proven technology developed for submarine and spacecraft |
| Magnetic field | 1 to 1000 | 1 | microTesla | 1,000.00 | Depends on maglev tech used by ETT |
| Max Grade | 30 | 10 | % | 3 | |
| Maximum power required | 1 | 12 | MW | 12 | Big cost savings for ETT |
| Min suspension gap | 6 | 10 | mm | 1.7 | |
| Minimum Curve radius at 200km/h | 312 | 1000 | m | 3.2 | |
| Minimum Curve radius at 300km/h | 705 | 2250 | m | 3.2 | |
| Minimum Curve radius at 400km/h | 1250 | 4000 | m | 3.2 | |
| Minimum Curve radius at 500km/h | 1950 | 6200 | m | 3.2 | |
| Operating Speed used to compare | 500 | 500 | km/h | 1 | Design speed fixed for comparison |
| Passenger capacity | 172,800 | 29,300 | persons/hour | 5.9 | Uses 1200 person capacity trains for TR on 147 sec intervals |
| Pumping Energy /seat / km | 0.72 | N/A | Wh/seat/km | | this is for a use of 25000 passengers per day - this number goes down for higher usa, and up for lower use. |
| running resistance per seat | 1.05 | 200 | Newton | 190.5 | The huge benefit of resistance elimination! |
| Safe Headway | 0.125 | 147 | seconds | 1,176.00 | For ETT determined by minimum capsule spacing and speed |
| Specific Energy Consumption | 0.98 | 52 | Wh/seat-km | 53.1 | TR is for 400km speed - number for 500 not available |
| Specific KE per seat | 0.242 | 1.79 | kW-h/seat | 7.4 | |
| Switch cycle time | 0 | 30 | seconds | | No switch limits for vehicle frequency |
| Switching Speed | 500 | 200 | km/h | 2.5 | Full speed switching allows high vehicle frequency for ETT |
| Time to stop | 20 | 147 | seconds | 7.4 | means ETT can maintain speed longer for faster trip time |
| Time to top speed | 20 | 256 | seconds | 12.8 | ETT passengers seated and restrained - like in a car |
| Top Speed Potential | 6000 | 600 | km/h | 10 | |
Some Questions |
| Airlocks required? | Y | N | | | |
| Are scheduled needed? | N | Y | | | |
| Bird Strike Danger? | N | Y | | | |
| Can Debris Blow onto guideway? | N | Y | | | |
| Can Passengers walk around? | N | Y | | | |
| Is a system in operation yet? | N | Y | | | |
| Is mass production practical? | Y | N | | | |
| Is operation always non-stop? | Y | N | | | |
| Is the cost low enough for masses? | Y | N | | | |
| Is unsubsidized cost < flying? | Y | N | | | |
| Life-support required? | Y | N | | | |
| Offline stations? | Y | Y | | | |
| Power need on entire guideway? | N | Y | | | |
| Snow clearing required? | N | Y | | | |
| Vacuum required? | Y | N | | | |
Ticket Cost at 6000 rnd trps/day use 800km trip |
| 10%of capital cost / trips per year | 12.10787037 | 164 | | | |
| 10%of capital cost/trips per year | 23.74722222 | 326.3055556 | | | |
| 10%of capital cost/trips per year | $47.23 | $649.22 | per round trip | | |
| Guideway cost for 800km | $1,000 | $13,600 | $millions | | 6000/day 360 days/year=2,160,000 |
| per km cost | $0.01 | $0.11 | | 12.6 | less than one cent per passenger km for ETT |
| Plus energy cost | $0.21 | $8.68 | per round trip | 42.3 | |
| Plus Maint Cost | $0.68 | $2.69 | per round trip | | |
| Plus misc. operating expense | $1.00 | $1.00 | per round trip | | |
| Station cost (2 minimum) | $14.60 | $350.00 | $millions | | |
| Total | $1,020 | $14,023 | $millions | | Seats needed for 6000/day = 6000/5= 1200 |
| Total cap cost for 12000 trips / day | 1025.88 | 14096.4 | | | |
| Total cost for 24000 trips / day | 1046.12 | 14169.6 | | | |
| Total Round trip Ticket Price | $49.12 | $661.59 | Ticket price | 13.5 | |
| Total ticket price | $25.63 | $338.67 | | 13.2 | |
| Total ticket price | $13.99 | $176.37 | | 12.6 | |
| Vehicle cost 1200 seats needed | $5.64 | $73.20 | $millions | | vehicles make 5 round trips per day |
Vehicle |
| Cargo payload | 0.45 | 15 | ton | 33.3 | one advantage for TR is the ability to move very large items up to 15t |
| Empty weight- cargo service | 0.15 | 96 | ton | 640 | The May 2002 TR brochure, says weight is 48t/section, (no distinction for end or mid ) the minimum is 2, for 96t |
| Empty weight- passenger service | 0.2 | 106 | ton | 530 | The May 2002 TR brochure, says weight is 53t/section, (no distinction for end or mid ) the minimum is 2, for 106t |
| Empty wt / payload | 33 | 320 | % | 9.7 | Big cost savings for ETT cargo movement |
| Empty wt / seat | 0.033 | 0.576 | ton | 17.5 | Big cost savings for ETT for materials - and energy too |
| Gross mass / length | 0.15 | 2.52 | ton/m | 16.8 | Big cost savings for ETT maglev components due to low loading |
| Gross weight | 0.6 | 136 | ton | 226.7 | |
| Height | 1.3 | 4.2 | m | 3.2 | |
| Length | 4 | 54 | m | 13.5 | Minimum vehicle size is two sections of 27m each as per May2002 TR publication |
| Passengers | 6 | 184 | seats | 30.7 | Minimum vehicle size is two sections, each seating 92 passengers according to May 2002 brochure |
| Seat pitch | 1.3 | 1 | m | 1.3 | first class comfort seating -- (4 seat ETTvehicles offer 1.9m pitch) |
| Seat width | 0.6 | 0.5 | m | 1.2 | ETT offers the comfort of a living room recliner. |
| Vehicle stowage volume /seat | 1.127 | 4.561 | | 4 | |
| Width | 1.3 | 3.7 | m | 2.8 | |
