The maglev guideway is to be constructed on railroad ties of existing rail lines so that the rail lines can be used by both maglev vehicles and conventional trains. A plurality of support bars are mounted on the rail ties, and a plurality of guideway panels mounted on the support bars. Each of the guideway panels has vertical lift and stability windings for providing vertical lift, pitch and roll stability to the maglev vehicle, and preferably also has lateral stability windings and linear synchronous motor windings. A protective cover sheet can be installed on the guideway panel, and the support bars can be pre-assembled by mounting them onto a registration grid. The guideway panel can also have a plurality of slots for accommodating threaded fasteners for mounting the guideway panel to the support bars.