I don't think Star Tram ideas are the way to go in the atmosphere....
Hi Adam,
I like space elevators quite a bit. It's not the quickest way to orbit but at least you wouldn't have to have to ride a bomb up or surf plasma down.
A maglev accelerator gives a craft all it's velocity at the bottom of the atmo, with the resulting thermal and dynamic stress to deal with. Sure you could launch it through a 14 mile high, mostly evacuated tube but it really kills the simplicity of the idea.
If we're on the moon however, I'd say go for it.