Why go to the trouble of using a dangerous laser when a simple electrical connection suffices?

Laser could be cheaper than electricity.

The laser would have to get power in some form. It would probably use electricity, so it won't necessarily be cheaper than using electricity through conductors. The advantage, if there is one, would be more efficient transmission of energy to the train. Sending electric power down a rail does incur significant losses due to resistance. The question is, can you get lower losses with a laser?

A laser beam traveling through air is going to suffer losses. It would also be a serious safety hazard if left exposed, so you might need to pass it down a tube. The tube may have to be perfectly straight, but maybe the inside could be made reflective to enable the beam to go around bends. However, any time the beam reflects of the inside of the tube there is going to be power loss. A laser beam could theoretically be sent through a tube that is evacuated. This would have less loss, but would be hard to set up. You would also have to figure out how to get the power out of the tube at the train. A laser beam can be sent through glass fibers, but I don't know if the losses would be less than an electrical conductor. There is still the problem of how to get the power out of the fiber when it reaches the train.

There may be a better way to make this work that I'm missing. Maybe others could come up with something.

A mono-rail, under the train would power the train - the mono-railwould act as a enclosure for the laser. A laser powered train would haveless moving parts compared to an electric-loco - hence lesser beak-downs.

Why would it have fewer parts? An electric train usually uses electric motors, which have very few moving parts. A maglev train has no moving parts other than the train itself. How is the laser going to move the train?

This idea is cool. I dont think one Laser from a single point of origin is gonna cut it because the earth bends, tracks bend, trees, mountains, and what not. But, a series of towers along the approved track, that could fire the laser down onto the reciever on the train, from a higher point then the train, could work. Each tower would have to keep it in its line of sight, or activate another tower when it comes into that towers line of sight. But if you didnt do it by open firing from point to point with no turns, then the energy loss from moving, or turning could stack up against you.

The downfall im seeing is chard birds all over the place. Flying by one minute, hits the laser, and flaming turkeys the next. That could cause a problem with the Eco fans of our feathered friends.