I’m skeptical of the idea that the concept, or at least the general concept of a maglev train in a vacuum or low pressure system to enable higher speeds and efficiency, will never ever be realized, because there are any number of future technologies that would make it easier (for instance, significantly better materials would make it easier to build long vacuum chambers, significant advances in automation could increase productivity to the point where society can afford much more expensive projects, and if people ever actually start to build settlements in space, then it’d be really easy to build one on a place like the moon because there’s no need for the huge vacuum chamber. I understand it would take a very long time for enough people to live in such settlements to actually need such things, but someday it could happen.)

Not that I don’t think that it’s being pushed today isnt wishful thinking at best and intentional distraction at worst, but I think the general concept could be sound one day with the right technology