Yahoo has a fun story on the potential of running maglev transport pods down vacuum tubes for 60 minute trans-atlantic crossings.
This bit really leapt out:
The unusual travel tech has proven successful in a laboratory setting, but has yet to make its way into the real world. The biggest barrier to the technology is, predictably, the cost. A 350mph local system would cost about $2 million per mile to install. Once built, however, the system would cost very little to operate — according to Oster, the cost of travel will be less than a penny per mile.
$2 million per mile is dirt cheap compared to Canberra light rail costings!