Maglev
The world's first commercial maglev system was a low-speed maglev shuttle that ran between the airport terminal of Birmingham International Airport and the nearby Birmingham International railway station between 1984 and 1995. Its track length was , and trains levitated at an altitude of , levitated by electromagnets, and propelled with linear induction motors. It operated for 11 years and was initially very popular with passengers, but obsolescence problems with the electronic systems made it progressively unreliable as years passed, leading to its closure in 1995. One of the original cars is now on display at Railworld in Peterborough, together with the RTV31 hover train vehicle. Another is on display at the National Railway Museum in York.
Maglev
In the public imagination, "maglev" often evokes the concept of an elevated monorail track with a linear motor. Maglev systems may be monorail or dual rail and not all monorail trains are maglevs. Some railway transport systems incorporate linear motors but use electromagnetism only for "propulsion", without levitating the vehicle. Such trains have wheels and are not maglevs. Maglev tracks, monorail or not, can also be constructed at grade (i.e. not elevated). Conversely, non-maglev tracks, monorail or not, can be elevated too. Some maglev trains do incorporate wheels and function like linear motor-propelled wheeled vehicles at slower speeds but "take off" and levitate at higher speeds.
The two notable types of maglev technology are: