The future of Berlin’s public transit could be trains that use magnetic-levitation propulsion technology, according to a plan launched this week. More likely is they will not.

That couldn’t stop the city’s Christian Democrats — the largest party in Berlin’s ruling coalition — from proposing construction of a test track for driverless maglev trains, at an estimated cost of €80 million ($87.5 million). Should that succeed, the system might be rolled out across the city for both passengers and freight, its backers say.