Los Angeles and Long Beach Ports, the busiest harbors in the United States, are considering the introduction of magnetic levitation technology to reduce pollution, port officials said on Tuesday.

Three maglev proposals have been put forward by researchers to shuttle cargo to rail yards in Los Angeles and to inland distribution centers.

In the months ahead, the Southern California Association of Governments and the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are planning to launch their own feasibility studies of the technology.

Long troubled by serious pollution, the ports have been seeking ways to reduce air pollution and highway congestion.

"If we are going to get serious about cleaning up the port, we need to bring electric power into the transportation system. We need to be emission free if we are going to grow," said S. David Freeman, president of the Los Angeles Harbor Commission.

"Maglev is one of several options we are looking at. It has a lot going for it," he said.

If put into practice, the ports would see the first freight application of the technology in the world. So far, maglev trains are built only for commercial passenger service.

Maglev, or magnetic levitation, trains produce no air pollution along their routes and are powered by magnetic fields in guideways that pull them along at speeds up to 300 mph.

Adapted for freight, researchers say, maglev trains could do the work of thousands of trucks and conventional locomotives, cutting harmful emissions in the port area and alleviating congestion on rail and highway corridors that serve the nation's largest harbor complex.

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have approved a 2-billion-U.S. dollar plan to transform the harbor into a clean-air model for seaports worldwide.

Source: Xinhua