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.
List of maglev train proposals
Talks with Germany and Transrapid Konsortium about the details of the construction contracts took place. While the Chinese Minister of Transportation was quoted by several Chinese and Western newspapers in 2006 as saying the line was approved, a February 27, 2009 People's Daily Online article indicates that the Shanghai municipal government is considering building the line underground to allay the public's fear of electromagnetic pollution, and that any final decision has to be approved by the National Development and Reform Commission. There are no current plans to extend the line.