A new proposal from the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) could placate the University of Maryland’s concerns about the Purple Line light-rail system disrupting critical research equipment. University administrators fear the MTA’s preferred Campus Drive route for the light-rail line would lead to electromagnetic interference and vibrations from the trains rendering sensitive research equipment useless. In the new proposal, the lines carrying the electromagnetic current would be mostly buried underground, instead of hanging overhead. Trains can’t access the current when the lines are underground, so poles every 100 feet would pull the current out of the ground and transfer it to the train. With this design, electromagnetic interference would only occur around the poles, significantly reducing the area the interference would impact.Learn more from the university’s independent daily student newspaper.
New Light-Rail Proposal Could Lower EMI
