World:

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Epi

Age of Nations

Various

    A maglev tower provides thrust and containment for sleds, vehicles that carry cargo or personnel.  This thrust and containment is called a slipstream.

   Sleds can either travel within the magnetic tunnel created by the maglev towers or travel on their own power.  Travel within the slipstream is faster and more efficient than individual travel.  On the other hand, individual travel allows the driver to select his own route and speed.  Sleds can engage a slipstream by requesting engagement through their on-board computer, which is networked to the the Transport Net.  On the other hand, disengagement is achieved by directing the sled out of the stream.  In most cases the sled is on pre-programmed, autopilot course.  

   The Arcathian state government's Transportation Services (as well as other state governments) erected this network of maglev towers as a hybrid mass-transit/individual-transit system.  It proved to be very effective until the Fall of Nations when the entire international grid had to be shut down for security reasons.  Terrorists had sent several explosive-laden sleds into Cah Bel.  The Fall of Nations followed the shutdown and the system was never reactivated.

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