Do mag lev trains exist?
Colonization of the Moon
If multiple bases were established on the lunar surface, they could be linked together by permanent railway systems. Both conventional and magnetic levitation (Maglev) systems have been proposed for the transport lines. Mag-Lev systems are particularly attractive as there is no atmosphere on the surface to slow down the train, so the vehicles could achieve velocities comparable to aircraft on the Earth. One significant difference with lunar trains, however, is that the cars would need to be individually sealed and possess their own life support systems.
Electromagnetic propulsion
Maglev
List of maglev train proposals
San Juan – Caguas: A maglev project has been proposed linking Tren Urbano's Cupey Station in San Juan with two proposed stations to be built in the city of Caguas, south of San Juan. The maglev line would run along Highway PR-52 connecting both cities. According to American Maglev Technology (AMT), who is the company in charge of the construction of this train, the cost of this project is approximately US$380 million.
Maglev
An extension of the line could run to Chiang Kai Shek Airport, and possibly on down the island, passing through major population centres, which the High Speed Rail must avoid. The minimal vibration of maglev would also be suitable to provide access Hsinchu Science Park, where sensitive silicon foundries are located. In the other direction, connection to the Tansui Line and to High Speed ferries at Tansui would provide overnight travel to Shanghai and Nagasaki, and to Busan or Mokpo in South Korea, thus interconnecting the public transport systems of four countries, with great savings in fossil fuel consumption compared to flight.
High-speed rail in China
China has the world's only commercial maglev high-speed train line in operation: The Shanghai Maglev Train, a turnkey Transrapid maglev demonstration line 30.5 km long. The trains have a top operational speed of 430 km/h and can reach a top non-commercial speed of 501 km/h. It opened for operations in March 2004, and transports passengers between Shanghai's Longyang Road Metro Station and Shanghai Pudong International Airport. There have been numerous attempts to extend the line without success. A Shanghai-Hangzhou maglev line was also initially discussed but later shelved in favour of conventional high-speed rail.
Maglev
Plans to extend the line to Shanghai South Railway Station and Hongqiao Airport on the northwestern edge of Shanghai are on hold. After the Shanghai–Hangzhou Passenger Railway became operational in late 2010, the maglev extension became somewhat redundant and may be canceled.
Maglev
At low speeds the percentage of power used for levitation can be significant, consuming up to 15% more power than a subway or light rail service. For short distances the energy used for acceleration might be considerable.
Electromagnetic suspension
Since the first commercial maglev train was opened in Birmingham, England in 1984, other commercial EMS maglev train systems, such as the M-Bahn and the Transrapid have also been put into limited use. (Maglev trains based on electrodynamic suspension technology have also been developed and deployed.) With the possible exception of the 30.5 km Shanghai Maglev Train, major long-distance EMS maglev routes have not yet been built.
Maglev
Many maglev systems have been proposed in North America, Asia and Europe. Many are in the early planning stages or were explicitly rejected.
High-speed rail in China
Maglev received a big boost in 2000 when the Shanghai Municipal Government agreed to purchase a turnkey TransRapid train system from Germany for the rail link connecting Shanghai Pudong International Airport and the city. In 2004, the Shanghai Maglev Train became the world's first commercially operated high-speed maglev. It remains the fastest commercial train in the world with peak speeds of and makes the trip in less than 7.5 minutes.
Despite unmatched advantage in speed, the maglev has not gained widespread use in China's high-speed rail network due to high cost, German refusal to share technology and concerns about safety. The price tag of the Shanghai Maglev was believed to be $1.3 billion and was partially financed by the German government. The refusal of the Transrapid Consortium to share technology and source production in China made large-scale maglev production much more costly than high-speed train technology for conventional lines. Finally, residents living along the proposed maglev route have raised health concerns about noise and electromagnetic radiation emitted by the trains, despite an environmental assessment by the Shanghai Academy of Environmental Sciences saying the line was safe. These concerns have prevented the construction of the proposed extension of the maglev to Hangzhou. Even the more modest plan to extend the maglev to Shanghai's other airport, Hongqiao, has stalled. Instead, a conventional subway line was built to connect the two airports, and a conventional high-speed rail line was built between Shanghai and Hangzhou.
Vactrain
A vactrain (or vacuum tube train) is a proposed design for very-high-speed rail transportation. It is a maglev (magnetic levitation) line using partly evacuated tubes or tunnels. Reduced air resistance could permit vactrains to travel at very high speeds with relatively little power—up to . This is 5–6 times the speed of sound in Earth's atmosphere at sea level. Vactrains might use gravity to assist their acceleration. If these trains achieve the predicted speeds, they could surpass aircraft as the world's fastest mode of public transportation.
Transrapid
In 2007 Iran and a German company reached an agreement on using maglev trains to link the cities of Tehran and Mashhad. The agreement was signed at the Mashhad International Fair site between Iranian Ministry of Roads and Transportation and the German company. Maglev trains can reduce the travel time for traversing the between Tehran and Mashhad to about 2.5 hours. Munich-based Schlegel Consulting Engineers said they had signed the contract with the Iranian ministry of transport and the governor of Mashad. "We have been mandated to lead a German consortium in this project," a spokesman said. "We are in a preparatory phase." The next step will be to assemble a consortium, a process that is expected to take place "in the coming months," the spokesman said. The project could be worth between 10 billion and 12 billion euros, the Schlegel spokesman said. Siemens and ThyssenKrupp, the developers of a high-speed maglev train, called the Transrapid, both said they were unaware of the proposal. The Schlegel spokesman said Siemens and ThyssenKrupp were currently "not involved" in the consortium.
Maglev
A new high speed maglev line, the Chuo Shinkansen, is planned to become operational in 2027, with construction starting 2017.
Shanghai maglev train
Construction of the line began in March 1, 2001, and public commercial service commenced on 1 January 2004. The top operational commercial speed of this train is , making it the world's fastest train in regular commercial service since its opening in April 2004. During a non-commercial test run on 12 November 2003, piloted by Jonathan Texiera, a maglev train achieved a Chinese record speed of . The Shanghai Maglev has a length of , a width of , a height of and a three-class, 574-passenger configuration.
Linear induction motor
Because of these properties, linear motors are often used in maglev propulsion, as in the Japanese Linimo magnetic levitation train line near Nagoya.
The world's first commercial automated maglev system was a low-speed maglev shuttle that ran from the airport terminal of Birmingham International Airport to the nearby Birmingham International railway station between 1984–1995. The length of the track was , and trains "flew" at an altitude of , levitated by electromagnets, and propelled with linear induction motors. It was in operation for nearly eleven years, but obsolescence problems with the electronic systems made it unreliable in its later years. One of the original cars is now on display at Railworld in Peterborough, together with the RTV31 hover train vehicle.
Maglev
In the US, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Urban Maglev Technology Demonstration program funded the design of several low-speed urban maglev demonstration projects. It assessed HSST for the Maryland Department of Transportation and maglev technology for the Colorado Department of Transportation. The FTA also funded work by General Atomics at California University of Pennsylvania to evaluate the MagneMotion M3 and of the Maglev2000 of Florida superconducting EDS system. Other US urban maglev demonstration projects of note are the LEVX in Washington State and the Massachusetts-based Magplane.
Maglev
The term "maglev" refers not only to the vehicles, but to the railway system as well, specifically designed for magnetic levitation and propulsion. All operational implementations of maglev technology make minimal use of wheeled train technology and are not compatible with conventional rail tracks. Because they cannot share existing infrastructure, maglev systems must be designed as standalone systems. The SPM maglev system is inter-operable with steel rail tracks and would permit maglev vehicles and conventional trains to operate on the same tracks. MAN in Germany also designed a maglev system that worked with conventional rails, but it was never fully developed.
Maglev
Two incidents involved fires. A Japanese test train in Miyazaki, MLU002, was completely consumed in a fire in 1991.
Shinkansen
Since 1970, development has also been underway for the Chūō Shinkansen, a planned maglev line from Tokyo to Osaka. On 21 April 2015, a seven-car L0 series maglev trainset set a world speed record of .
List of maglev train proposals
Keystone Corridor: According to Transrapid, Inc., Pittsburgh has the most advanced maglev initiative in the U.S., followed by the Las Vegas project. Once federal funding is finalized, these two markets could be the first to see maglev in the United States. Initially, the project calls for a transrapid system throughout the metro Pittsburgh area. Further planning calls for extensions eastward to Harrisburg and Philadelphia. Upon completion, a commute from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia would be reduced to 90–120 minutes. A commuter traversing the Pennsylvania Turnpike would currently spend approximately 5hrs if traveling at the speed limit.
Maglev
Linimo or a similar system would be preferred, as being the core of Taipei's public transport system, it should run 24 hours a day. Also, in certain areas it would run within metres of apartments, so the near silent operation, and minimal maintenance requirements of maglev would be major advantages.
List of maglev train proposals
A Maglev connection between Copenhagen and Århus was proposed.
Maglev
The drag force can be used to the electrodynamic system's advantage, however, as it creates a varying force in the rails that can be used as a reactionary system to drive the train, without the need for a separate reaction plate, as in most linear motor systems. Laithwaite led development of such "traverse-flux" systems at his Imperial College laboratory. Alternatively, propulsion coils on the guideway are used to exert a force on the magnets in the train and make the train move forward. The propulsion coils that exert a force on the train are effectively a linear motor: an alternating current through the coils generates a continuously varying magnetic field that moves forward along the track. The frequency of the alternating current is synchronized to match the speed of the train. The offset between the field exerted by magnets on the train and the applied field creates a force moving the train forward.
High-speed rail in the United States
In 2012, the Northeast Maglev, a small firm in Washington, D.C. with backing from the Central Japan Railway Company, proposed a new high-speed rail service along the Northeast Corridor with initial service between Washington, DC and New York City and they have spent $1.4 million lobbying Congress. The proposal calls for the use of maglev technology which will require infrastructure separate from the Amtrak's NEC networks. The company proposes to deploy the JR-Maglev trains on a service from Washington, D.C. to New York City with a travel time of 60 minutes. Previous proposals of deploying maglev in the area have stalled due to lack of funding and legislative support. In November 2015, the Federal Railroad Administration approved a grant of $27.8 million to Maryland Department of Transportation and Maryland Economic Development Corporation to conduct studies on building a high-speed Maglev line that would carry passengers between Washington and Baltimore.
Changsha South railway station
The medium-low speed Changsha Maglev between Changsha South Railway Station and Changsha Huanghua International Airport started services from 2016 on. The Maglev line is 18.5 km long and trains run at a speed of 120 km/h to finish the journey in just over 10 minutes.
There are lots of buses departing from Changsha South Railway Station:
The tickets for all buses cost about ￥2. Check the timetables and routes at the bus terminal.
Lviv
Historically, the first horse-drawn tramway lines in Lviv were inaugurated on 5 May 1880. An electric tram was introduced on 31 May 1894. The last horse-drawn line was transferred to electric traction in 1908. In 1922 the tramways were switched to driving on the right-hand side. After the annexation of the city by the Soviet Union, several lines were closed but most of the infrastructure was preserved. The tracks are narrow-gauge, unusual for the Soviet Union, but explained by the fact that the system was built while the city was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and needed to run in narrow medieval streets in the centre of town. The Lviv tramway system now runs about 220 cars on of track. Many tracks were reconstructed around 2006. The price in February 2011 of a tram/trolleybus ticket was 1.50 UAH (reduced fare ticket was 0.60 UAH, e.g. for students). The ticket may be purchased from the driver.
Monorail
Under the Monorail Society's beam-width criterion, some, but not all, maglev systems are considered monorails, such as the Transrapid and Linimo. Maglevs differ from other monorails in that they do not (normally) physically contact the beam.
Linimo
Linimo is owned and operated by and is the first commercial maglev in Japan to use the High Speed Surface Transport (HSST) type technology. It is also the world's first unmanned commercial urban maglev. There are some sources that ambiguously describe "unmanned" as "automated" or ignore the condition while making such a claim but Linimo was actually the fourth commercial urban maglev operated in the world, predated by the Birmingham Maglev (1984–1995), the Berlin M-Bahn (1989–1991) and the Shanghai Maglev (opened in 2004).
Maglev
These trains use superconducting magnets, which allow for a larger gap, and repulsive/attractive-type electrodynamic suspension (EDS). In comparison Transrapid uses conventional electromagnets and attractive-type electromagnetic suspension (EMS).
Tracked Hovercraft
Laithwaite was as publicly critical of the government's cancellation as he had been of BR's earlier efforts on LIM research. However, by this time he had distanced himself from the hovercraft arrangement, concluding that the maglev was a better solution. Laithwaite had found that careful arrangement of the LIM allowed a single motor to act as both the lift and traction system, a system he called "traverse-flux", or "river of magnetism". Having continued his research at Derby throughout, when it became clear that Tracked Hovercraft was truly dead, Laithwaite started pushing for the test track to be converted to a testbed for his maglev design. By that point Rohr, Inc. in the US were already experimenting with their own LIM arrangement of this sort on their ROMAG personal rapid transport system, and there were several German maglev efforts underway as well. In the end the TH test track was abandoned. Laithwaite's work would eventually be used as the basis for the Birmingham Maglev, the first operational maglev system.
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.
Maglev
Each implementation of the magnetic levitation principle for train-type travel involves advantages and disadvantages.
Maglev
The Hunan provincial government launched the construction of a maglev line between Changsha Huanghua International Airport and Changsha South Railway Station. Construction started in May 2014 and was completed by the end of 2015. Trial runs began on 26 December 2015 and trial operations started on 6 May 2016. As of 13 June 2018 the Changsha maglev covered distance of 1.7 million km and carried nearly 6 million passengers. The next generation of this vehicle is rolled off the production line and is capable of running at a top speed of 160 km/h.
SCMaglev
Japanese National Railways (JNR) began research on a linear propulsion railway system in 1962 with the goal of developing a train that could travel between Tokyo and Osaka in one hour. Shortly after Brookhaven National Laboratory patented superconducting magnetic levitation technology in the United States in 1969, JNR announced development of the its own superconducting maglev (SCMaglev) system. The railway made its first successful SCMaglev run on a short track at its Railway Technical Research Institute in 1972.
Maglev
The construction of a maglev track using the technology from Ramenskoye started in Armenian SSR in 1987
and was planned to be completed in 1991. The track was supposed to connect the cities of Yerevan and Sevan via the city of Abovyan. The original design speed was 250 km/h which was later lowered to 180 km/h.
However, the Spitak earthquake in 1988 and the Nagorno-Karabakh war caused the project to freeze. In the end the overpass was only partially constructed.
Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong Express Rail Link
Since 2001, the Hong Kong government began working on the “Regional Express” with mainland China, and discussing the feasibility of cooperation on “Suigang maglev rail project”. In 2001, the Hong Kong DoT, with the Shenzhen Municipal Government and Chinese railway authorities to explore the use of “RER” and maglev technology, project feasibility and actively using magnetic levitation technology to build a line from Hong Kong to Canton/Guangzhou. The study pointed out that the use of a maglev train would reduce the Hong Kong to Shenzhen running time of 40 minutes to 15 minutes. September 2001, when he was the Hong Kong SAR Chief Secretary Donald Tsang, visited Canton/Guangzhou, where he met with the Governor of Guangdong Province, Lu Ruihua, acting mayor of Guangzhou, Lin Shusen and Shenzhen Mayor Yu Youjun for talks about the “Regional Express line concept”. Tung attended the Shanghai APEC Summit in October 2001, formally proposing the construction of a maglev railway between Canton/Guangzhou and Hong Kong Express Line plans to the State Planning Commission. The Mayor of Shenzhen Yu Youjun said at a news conference at the APEC Senior Officials' Meeting, Shenzhen and Hong Kong is planning to build maglev railway and to continue to discuss the issue. But also at this time, the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Railway Co. also made a Guangzhou–Kowloon Through Train speed plan.
Train
In order to achieve much faster operation over , innovative maglev technology has been researched since the early 20th century. The technology uses magnets to levitate the train above the track, reducing friction and allowing higher speeds. An early prototype was demonstrated in 1913, and the first commercial maglev train was an airport shuttle introduced in 1984.
Technology in Star Wars
Levitation by these methods already exists in modern times, but with fundamental differences from "Star Wars", despite having the same output. An example of vehicles that maintain constant levitation without the use of constant propulsion is the Maglev train. The Maglev train stays afloat by using the magnetic repulsion of like charges, but relies on the surface that it travels above, in its case, the train tracks, to have the same charge as its own coils, resulting in a magnetic repulsion.
JŽ series 461
After dissolution of Yugoslavia, 461 class have remain in service with railways of Serbia, Montenegro and Republic of Macedonia. Today there are 46 locomotives operated by Serbian Railways. Most Serbian locomotives were passed to the cargo division in 2015, with 5 units retained for passenger trains on the Belgrade-Bar line. Railway transport of Montenegro operates 10 and Montecargo 8 locomotives of class 461, being only electric locomotive operated in Montenegro. This series is mainly used on Belgrade–Bar railway by both Serbian and Montenegrin railways. Six locomotives of 461 series are operated by Macedonian Railways, with two of them modernised and thyristorized to series 462.
Lathen train collision
Maglev trains use powerful magnets to hover above the tracks.
Lathen train collision
The Transrapid 08 was still doing trial runs but would sometimes carry passengers along the test track to demonstrate the maglev technology. The Emsland test track runs from Lathen, near where the accident occurred, north to Dörpen, with a loop at each end and a depot side track near the southern loop. Speeds of up to 450 km/h (280 mph) are reached on the test track.
High-speed rail in East Asia
The Shanghai Maglev Train, a turnkey Transrapid maglev project, imported from Germany, is capable of an operational speed of 430 km/h and of a top speed of 501 km/h. It has connected Shanghai and Pudong International Airport since March, 2004. In April 2007, China opened several high speed rail lines between major cities, providing a network of 6,003 km, making it the world's largest high speed rail network. By 2012, China will have a 110,000 km rail network. Of that amount 13,000 km will be high speed rail, some line capable of going over 350 km/h, making CRH the largest, fastest, most technologically advanced high speed rail system in the world. 
However, the Maglev line has suffered from low ridership, and various expansion plans (e.g. to Hangzhou) remain stalled.
Hovertrain
As electronics improved, and electrical control systems with them, it became increasingly easy to build an "active track" using electromagnets. By the late 1960s there was renewed interest in the maglev concept, and several study projects were starting in Germany and Japan. Through the same period, Laithwaite had invented a new form of the LIM that provided both lift and forward thrust, and could be built over a passive track like the conventional LIMs. In either case, only magnets in the immediate vicinity of the train would have to be turned on, which appeared to offer much lower overall energy needs than the hovertrain.
Electric vehicle
In the systems above, motion is provided by a rotary electric motor. However, it is possible to "unroll" the motor to drive directly against a special matched track. These linear motors are used in maglev trains which float above the rails supported by magnetic levitation. This allows for almost no rolling resistance of the vehicle and no mechanical wear and tear of the train or track. In addition to the high-performance control systems needed, switching and curving of the tracks becomes difficult with linear motors, which to date has restricted their operations to high-speed point to point services.
High-speed rail
State planning for high-speed railway began in the early 1990s, and the country's first high-speed rail line, the Qinhuangdao–Shenyang Passenger Railway, was built in 1999 and opened to commercial operation in 2003. This line could accommodate commercial trains running at up to . Planners also considered Germany's Transrapid maglev technology and built the Shanghai Maglev Train, which runs on a track linking the Pudong, the city's financial district, and the Pudong International Airport. 
The maglev train service began operating in 2004 with trains reaching a top speed of , and remains the fastest high-speed service in the world. Maglev, however, was not adopted nationally and all subsequent expansion features high-speed rail on conventional tracks.
Monorail
Magnetic levitation train (maglev) systems by the German Transrapid were built as straddle-type monorails, as they are highly stable and allow rapid deceleration from great speed. At speed, maglev trains hover over the track and are not in physical contact with it. The maglev is the fastest train of any type, the experimental SCMaglev having recorded a speed of . The commercial Shanghai Maglev Train has run at . However, the guideway is so wide that it can be argued it is not legitimate to call it a monorail. 
There are also slower maglev monorails intended for urban transport, such as Japan's Linimo (2003).
List of maglev train proposals
Johor: Malaysia has decided to use maglev technology to link important landmarks across the city. This will be a boost to business to compete against the neighbouring city, Singapore. The system will be a monorail type maglev, developed in China.
List of maglev train proposals
This is a list of proposed maglev trains worldwide.
Maglev
A maglev route was proposed between Sydney and Wollongong. The proposal came to prominence in the mid-1990s. The Sydney–Wollongong commuter corridor is the largest in Australia, with upwards of 20,000 people commuting each day. Current trains use the Illawarra line, between the cliff face of the Illawarra escarpment and the Pacific Ocean, with travel times about 2 hours. The proposal would cut travel times to 20 minutes.In late 2008, a proposal was put forward to the Government of Victoria to build a privately funded and operated maglev line to service the Greater Melbourne metropolitan area in response to the Eddington Transport Report that did not investigate above-ground transport options. The maglev would service a population of over 4 million and the proposal was costed at A$8 billion.
Maglev
In the late 1940s, the British electrical engineer Eric Laithwaite, a professor at Imperial College London, developed the first full-size working model of the linear induction motor. He became professor of heavy electrical engineering at Imperial College in 1964, where he continued his successful development of the linear motor. Since linear motors do not require physical contact between the vehicle and guideway, they became a common fixture on advanced transportation systems in the 1960s and 70s. Laithwaite joined one such project, the Tracked Hovercraft, although the project was cancelled in 1973.
Shanghai maglev train
The line runs from Longyang Road station in Pudong to Pudong International Airport; The Pudong International Airport station provides a transfer to Line 2, but the Longyang Road station provides access to Line 2, Line 7 and Line 16. At full speed, the journey takes 7 minutes and 20 seconds to complete the distance of , although some trains in the early morning and late afternoon take about 50 seconds longer. A train can reach in 2 minutes, with the maximum normal operation speed of reached thereafter.
Maglev
Energy for maglev trains is used to accelerate the train. Energy may be regained when the train slows down via regenerative braking. It also levitates and stabilises the train's movement. Most of the energy is needed to overcome air drag. Some energy is used for air conditioning, heating, lighting and other miscellany.
AVE
Currently, there are several series of high-speed trains that run the AVE service:
There are also other series of trains that are considered high-speed, but do not run under the AVE name. They run under the brand Alvia and Avant, and are variable gauge trains. They can run on high-speed lines at a maximum of , and can also change between standard- and Iberian-gauge lines without stopping. The trains that are operated under the Alvia and Avant brand are:
Shinkansen
Maglev trains have been undertaking test runs on the Yamanashi test track since 1997, running at speeds of over . As a result of this extensive testing, maglev technology is almost ready for public usage. An extension of this test track from 18.4 km to 42.8 km was completed in June 2013, enabling extended high-speed running trials to commence in August 2013. This section will be incorporated into the Chūō Shinkansen which will eventually link Tokyo to Osaka. Construction of the Shinagawa to Nagoya section began in 2014, with 86% of the 286 km route to be in tunnels.
North American Maglev Transport Institute
The North American Maglev Transport Institute (NAMTI) is a non-profit organization based in Washington, DC, USA, and established to educate the public about the advantages of magnetic levitation (maglev) transport. NAMTI also serves as a central clearing house for information on different types of maglev transport technology and to help clearly differentiate maglev technology from other modes, such as trains or USA trains.
Lathen train collision
The Lathen train collision occurred on 22 September 2006 when a Transrapid magnetic levitation (or "maglev") train collided with a maintenance vehicle near Lathen, Germany, killing 23 people. It was the first fatal accident involving a maglev train.
Electromagnetic suspension
Maglev (magnetic levitation) is a transportation system in which a vehicle is suspended on a guiding rail by the principle of electromagnetic suspension. Maglev has the advantages of being quieter and smoother than wheeled transportations due to the elimination of much of the physical contact between wheels and track. Since maglev requires a guiding rail, it is mostly used in railed transport systems like trains.
Maglev (disambiguation)
Maglev is a form of rail transport using magnetic levitation.
Maglev
After the decision, private groups from Nevada proposed a line running from Las Vegas to Los Angeles with stops in Primm, Nevada; Baker, California; and other points throughout San Bernardino County into Los Angeles. Politicians expressed concern that a high-speed rail line out of state would carry spending out of state along with travelers.
Maglev
Maglev (derived from "magnetic levitation") is a system of train transportation that uses two sets of magnets, one set to repel and push the train up off the track, then another set to move the 'floating train' ahead at great speed taking advantage of the lack of friction. Along certain "medium range" routes (usually 200–400 miles) Maglev can compete favorably with high-speed rail and airplanes.
California–Nevada Interstate Maglev
Operating on a dedicated track, it would not be subject to delays from freight trains, a problem that plagued the old Amtrak service. As a high-speed service, it would be able to compete with airlines for passengers, especially from the outlying areas of Southern California.
Maglev
One potential risk for passengers of trains operating in evacuated tubes is that they could be exposed to the risk of cabin depressurization unless tunnel safety monitoring systems can repressurize the tube in the event of a train malfunction or accident though since trains are likely to operate at or near the Earth's surface, emergency restoration of ambient pressure should be straightforward. The RAND Corporation has depicted a vacuum tube train that could, in theory, cross the Atlantic or the USA in ~21 minutes.
High-speed rail in Germany
Germany has developed the Transrapid, a magnetic levitation train system. The Transrapid reaches speeds up to 550 km/h (340 mph). The Emsland test facility, with a total length of , operated in until 2011 when it was closed and in 2012 its demolition was approved. In China, Shanghai Maglev Train, a Transrapid technology based maglev built in collaboration with Siemens, Germany, has been operational since March 2004.Part of these routes are new constructions that run along or close to the existing, or previous, route:
Maglev
The company will construct and operate the $25 million system on the former route of the Domain Ride (known locally as the Monorail, despite not being considered one) at zero cost to the Zoo and operate it for 15 years, splitting the profits with the Zoo. The ride will serve a single-directional loop around Zoo grounds, serving five stations and likely replacing the current Zoomobile tour tram service. Planned to be operational by 2022 at the earliest, this will become the first commercially operating maglev system in North America should it be approved.
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:
Train
The Shanghai Maglev Train, opened in 2003, is the fastest commercial train service of any kind, operating at speeds of up to . Maglev has not yet been used for inter-city mass transit routes.
List of maglev train proposals
Baltimore – Washington D.C. Maglev: A 39 Mile (64 km) project has been proposed linking Camden Yards in Baltimore and Baltimore-Washington International (BWI) Airport to Union Station in Washington, D.C. It is in demand for the area due to its current traffic/congestion problems. Based on the Japanese design with the backing of the Japanese government, in November 2013 the company set up to promote it offered to build the guideway and propulsion system for nothing. As of January 2014, the Japanese government has offered to provide financing for half of the estimated $8 billion construction cost. On Saturday 7 November 2015, the office of Maryland Governor Larry Hogan announced that the state had received a $27.8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to assess the feasibility of a superconducting maglev train line between Baltimore and Washington DC. A maglev train is a super-high-speed rail system that already exists in other parts of the world, reaching speeds of 373 miles per hour in Japan.
Maglev
Maglev systems have been much more expensive to construct than conventional train systems, although the simpler construction of maglev vehicles makes them cheaper to manufacture and maintain. Despite over a century of research and development, maglev transport systems are in operation in just three countries (Japan, South Korea and China). The incremental benefits of maglev technology have often been hard to justify against cost and risk, especially where there is an existing or proposed conventional high speed train line with spare passenger carrying capacity, as in high-speed rail in Europe, the High Speed 2 in the UK and Shinkansen in Japan.
Maglev
On 22 September 2006, a Transrapid train collided with a maintenance vehicle on a test/publicity run in Lathen (Lower Saxony / north-western Germany). Twenty-three people were killed and ten were injured; these were the first maglev crash fatalities. The accident was caused by human error. Charges were brought against three Transrapid employees after a year-long investigation.
Transrapid
On 22 September 2006, a Transrapid train collided with a maintenance vehicle at on the test track in Lathen, Germany. The maintenance vehicle destroyed the first section of the train, then lifted off the track to complete two full rotations before landing in a pile of pre-exploded debris. This was the first major accident involving a Transrapid train. The news media reported 23 fatalities and that several people were severely injured, these being the first fatalities on any maglev. The accident was caused by human error with the first train being allowed to leave the station before the maintenance vehicle had moved off the track. This situation could be avoided in a production environment by installing an automatic collision avoidance system.
Maglev
In electromagnetic suspension (EMS) systems, the train levitates above a steel rail while electromagnets, attached to the train, are oriented toward the rail from below. The system is typically arranged on a series of C-shaped arms, with the upper portion of the arm attached to the vehicle, and the lower inside edge containing the magnets. The rail is situated inside the C, between the upper and lower edges.
Shanghai maglev train
The train set was built by a joint venture of Siemens and ThyssenKrupp from Kassel, Germany and based on years of tests and improvements of their Transrapid maglev monorail. The Shanghai Maglev track (guideway) was built by local Chinese companies who, as a result of the alluvial soil conditions of the Pudong area, had to deviate from the original track design of one supporting column every 50 metres to one column every 25 metres, to ensure that the guideway meets the stability and precision criteria. Several thousand concrete piles were driven to depths up to 70 metres to attain stability for the support column foundations. A mile-long, climate controlled facility was built alongside the line's right of way to manufacture the guideways.
California–Nevada Interstate Maglev
The maglev project's cost has recently been estimated to be around $12 billion. In June 2010 it lost key support from Senator Harry Reid, who then stated support for the privately financed Desert Xpress project. The availability of these funds for the Maglev project were withdrawn at the direction of Reid by language contained the Federal "Jobs Bill" passed in March 2010. In a press release, the Senator claimed the Maglev Commission had failed to raise the required matching funds of 20%; a claim subsequently disputed by American Magline Group President Neil Cummings, who reported raising $10 million. Reid then noted that commission had "failed to complete an environmental impact statement", the value of which was counted as part of the "$10 million" in matching funds claimed to have been raised by the Magline Group, despite the statement being unfinished. The project's technology also remains controversial among rail enthusiasts since it is untried in the United States.
Shanghai maglev train
The electrification of the train was developed by Vahle, Inc. Two commercial maglev systems predated the Shanghai system: the Birmingham Maglev in the United Kingdom and the Berlin M-Bahn. Both were low-speed operations and closed before the opening of the Shanghai maglev train.
Interstate 15
Due to this rapid area growth, the I-15 corridor is the focus of several mass transit projects. The Las Vegas Monorail, "FrontRunner" commuter rail system and TRAX light rail in Salt Lake City are mass transit lines loosely parallel to I-15 that are now in operation. Between Los Angeles and Las Vegas has long been proposed as a maglev train route; in 2004 the California-Nevada Interstate Maglev project held public meetings on the plan.
Electromagnetic propulsion
A typical Maglev train costs three cents per passenger mile, or seven cents per ton mile (not including construction costs). This compares to 15 cents per passenger miles for travel by plane and 30 cents for ton mile for travel by intercity trucks. Maglev tracks have high longevity due to minimal friction and an even distribution of weight. Most last for at least 50 years and require little maintenance during this time. Maglev trains are promoted for their energy efficiency since they run on electricity, which can be produced by coal, nuclear, hydro, fusion, wind or solar power without requiring oil. On average most trains travel 483 km/h (300 mph) and use 0.4 megajoules per passenger mile. Using a 20 mi/gallon car with 1.8 people as a comparison, travel by car is typically 97 km/h (60 mph) and uses 4 megajoules per passenger mile. The carbon dioxide emissions are based upon the method of electrical production and fuel use. Many renewable electrical production methods generate little or no carbon dioxide during production (although carbon dioxide may be released during manufacture of the components, e.g. the steel used in wind turbines). The running of the train is significantly quieter than other trains, trucks or airplanes.
Assembly: Linear Induction Motor
A linear induction motor consists of two parts: the primary coil assembly and the reaction plate. The primary coil assembly consists of phase windings surrounded by steel laminations, and includes a thermal sensor within a thermal epoxy. The reaction plate consists of a 3.2 mm (0.125 inch) thick aluminum or copper plate bonded to a 6.4 mm (0.25 inch) thick cold rolled steel sheet. There is an air gap between these two parts that creates the frictionless property an electromagnetic propulsion system encompasses. Functioning of a linear induction motor begins with an AC force that is supplied to the coil windings within the primary coil assembly. This creates a traveling magnetic field that induces a current in the reaction plate, which then creates its own magnetic field. The magnetic fields in the primary coil assembly and reaction plate alternate, which generates force and direct linear motion.
List of maglev train proposals
Since the federal government decision, private groups from Nevada have proposed a line running from Las Vegas to Los Angeles with stops in Primm, Nevada; Baker, California; and points throughout Riverside County into Los Angeles.
Passenger rail terminology
A number of both technological and practical variables begin to influence trains in the vicinity of 500–600 km/h. Technologically, the limitations are by no means beyond reach, however conventional trains begin to encounter several physical obstacles, most notably track damage and pantograph limitations. It is important to note that the current world record for rail vehicles is held by the TGV V150 set on 15 April 2007 at , and conventional trains may indeed eventually reach into ultra high-speeds. However, this test has shown that speeds over 500 km/h are unrealistic for regular usage; it wears down the material too much. Based on current and foreseeable technology, these speeds will more than likely be reached predominantly by maglev trains. The two most prominent maglev trains are the Transrapid with a maximum speed of and the Japanese MLX01, which holds the world land speed record for rail vehicles at .
Elevated railway
Most monorails are elevated railways, such as the Disneyland Monorail System (1959), the Tokyo Monorail (1964), the Sydney Monorail (1988–2013), the KL Monorail, the Las Vegas Monorail, and the São Paulo Monorail. Many maglev railways are also elevated.
Maglev
The linear motor was naturally suited to use with maglev systems as well. In the early 1970s, Laithwaite discovered a new arrangement of magnets, the magnetic river, that allowed a single linear motor to produce both lift and forward thrust, allowing a maglev system to be built with a single set of magnets. Working at the British Rail Research Division in Derby, along with teams at several civil engineering firms, the "transverse-flux" system was developed into a working system.
List of maglev train proposals
California-Nevada Interstate Maglev
High-speed maglev lines between major cities of southern California and Las Vegas are also being studied via the California-Nevada Interstate Maglev Project. This plan was originally supposed to be part of an I-5 or I-15 expansion plan, but the federal government has ruled it must be separated from interstate public work projects.
Electromagnetic suspension
The first commercial Maglev train for routine service was opened in Birmingham, England in 1984, using electromagnetic suspension, and a linear induction motor for propulsion.
Aérotrain
Though similar to a maglev design, which levitates a train car over a complex electromagnetic track to eliminate all resistance other than aerodynamic drag, the Aérotrain — also a "train without wheels" — rode on an air cushion over a simple reinforced concrete track or "guideway" and could travel at unprecedented speed, without the further technical complexity and expense of the maglev track. In many respects, the entire concept resembled a product of the aircraft rather than rail industry.
Maglev
Low speed maglev (urban maglev) is proposed for YangMingShan MRT Line for Taipei, a circular line connecting Taipei City to New Taipei City, and almost all other Taipei transport routes, but especially the access starved northern suburbs of Tien Mou and YangMingShan. From these suburbs to the city, transit times would be reduced by 70% or more compared to peak hours, and between Tien Mou and YangMingShan, from approx 20 minutes, to 3 minutes. Key to the line is YangMingShan Station, at ‘Taipei level’ in the mountain, 200M below YangMingShan (YangMing Mountain) Village, with 40 second high speed elevators to the Village.
Magnetic levitation
A very strong magnetic field is required to levitate a train. The JR–Maglev trains have superconducting magnetic coils, but the JR–Maglev levitation is not due to the Meissner effect.
Shanghai–Hangzhou maglev line
If built, the line would become the first inter-city maglev rail line in commercial service in the world and also the fastest inter-city train. The line would be an extension of the only maglev line in China (and the only commercial service high-speed maglev line in the world) so far, the Shanghai maglev train at Pudong International Airport.
Shinkansen
Trains are up to sixteen cars long. With each car measuring in length, the longest trains are 400 m (1/4 mile) end to end. Stations are similarly long to accommodate these trains. Some of Japan's high-speed maglev trains are considered Shinkansen, while other slower maglev trains (such as the Linimo maglev train line serving local community near the city of Nagoya in Aichi, Japan) are intended as alternatives to conventional urban rapid transit systems."Note that these trains were and currently are used only for experimental runs."
Originally intended to carry passenger and freight trains by day and night, the Shinkansen lines carry only passenger trains. The system shuts down between midnight and 06:00 every day for maintenance. The few overnight trains that still run in Japan run on the older narrow gauge network that the Shinkansen parallels.Compared with air transport, the Shinkansen has several advantages, including scheduling frequency and flexibility, punctual operation, comfortable seats, and convenient city-centre terminals.
Maglev
Qingyuan Maglev (清远磁浮旅游专线) is a medium-low speed maglev line in Qingyuan, Guangdong province, China. The first phase is 8.1 km with 3 stations (and 1 more reserved station).
Shanghai maglev train
The plan for the extension to Hangzhou was first approved by the central government in February 2006, with a planned date of completion in 2010. Work was suspended in 2008, owing to public protests over radiation fears
despite an environmental assessment by the Shanghai Academy of Environmental Sciences saying the line was safe and would not affect air and water quality, and noise pollution could be controlled.
According to China Daily, as reported on People's Daily Online 27 February 2009, the Shanghai municipal government was considering building the maglev line underground to allay the public's fear of electromagnetic pollution and the final decision on the maglev line had to be approved by the National Development and Reform commission.
Train
A passenger train includes passenger-carrying vehicles and can often be very long and fast. One notable and growing long-distance train category is high-speed rail. In order to achieve much faster operation at speeds of over , innovative maglev technology has been the subject of research for many years. The term "light rail" is sometimes used to refer to a modern tram system, but it may also mean an intermediate form between a tram and a train, similar to a heavy rail rapid transit system. In most countries, the distinction between a tramway and a railway is precise and defined in law.
List of maglev train proposals
Shanghai – Hangzhou: China had planned to extend the world’s first commercial Transrapid line between Pudong airport and the city of Shanghai initially by some 35 kilometers to Hong Qiao airport before the World Expo 2010 and then, in an additional phase, by 200 kilometers to the city of Hangzhou (Shanghai-Hangzhou Maglev Train), which would have been the first inter-city maglev rail line in commercial service in the world. The line would have been an extension of the Shanghai airport maglev line.
High-speed rail in India
The Andhra Pradesh state government has decided to build its metro train system in major cities using the Maglev technology. The Changsha Metro system was studied by a team to gain better understanding of running the metro using Maglev. Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam and Amaravati metro railway systems will be built using low speed Maglev train systems. It is expected make the industrial sector in the Andra Pradesh the most cost efficient and exports competitive in world market by reducing the logistics cost for the transport of people and freight. Maglev based metro systems improve the quality of life in cities and provide efficient, high-speed rail systems to generate far higher levels of economic output. This is expected to create an industrial base, hands-on expertise and lower costs for Maglev in India.
Maglev
In 1993, South Korea completed the development of its own maglev train, shown off at the Taejŏn Expo '93, which was developed further into a full-fledged maglev capable of travelling up to in 2006. This final model was incorporated in the Incheon Airport Maglev which opened on February 3, 2016, making South Korea the world's fourth country to operate its own self-developed maglev after the United Kingdom's Birmingham International Airport, Germany's Berlin M-Bahn, and Japan's Linimo. It links Incheon International Airport to the Yongyu Station and Leisure Complex on Yeongjong island. It offers a transfer to the Seoul Metropolitan Subway at AREX's Incheon International Airport Station and is offered free of charge to anyone to ride, operating between 9am and 6pm with 15 minute intervals.
Shanghai maglev train
In October 2010 the non-maglev Shanghai–Hangzhou High-Speed Railway was opened, bringing travelling time between the two cities down to 45 minutes. Consequently plans for a Maglev link have been suspended again.
Maglev
High-speed transportation patents were granted to various inventors throughout the world. Early United States patents for a linear motor propelled train were awarded to German inventor . The inventor was awarded (14 February 1905) and (21 August 1907). In 1907, another early electromagnetic transportation system was developed by F. S. Smith. A series of German patents for magnetic levitation trains propelled by linear motors were awarded to Hermann Kemper between 1937 and 1941. An early maglev train was described in , "Magnetic system of transportation", by G. R. Polgreen (25 August 1959). The first use of "maglev" in a United States patent was in "Magnetic levitation guidance system" by Canadian Patents and Development Limited.
List of maglev train proposals
London – Glasgow: A maglev line was proposed in the United Kingdom from London to Glasgow via Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle and Edinburgh with spurs to Heathrow Airport and Liverpool. It was rejected by the Government in 2007 and the company behind it ceased promotion of the scheme in early 2013.
List of maglev train proposals
Orlando maglev: In December 2012 the Florida Department of Transportation gave conditional approval to a proposal by American Maglev to build a privately run 14.9 mile, 5 station line from the Orlando International Airport to the Orange County Convention Center. The Department requested a technical assessment of the technology and said there would be a "request for proposals" issued to see if there are any competing plans. The route requires the use of a public right of way. If the first phase is successful American Maglev would propose extensions in two further phases (4.9 miles and 19.4 miles) to carry the line to Walt Disney World.
List of maglev train proposals
Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA: 
In 1999, Old Dominion University agreed to work with American Maglev of Atlanta to construct an on-campus student transportation link of less than one mile — using a "smart train / dumb track" design in which most sensors, magnets, and computation were located on the train rather than the track. Several other institutes of higher learning rejected the project with cost and safety concerns. While projected to cost less to build per mile than existing systems, the ODU maglev was never operational. After far exceeding its projected $14 million budget, a groundbreaking was held in 2001, the project was completed in 2002; and the technology failed: the vehicle lost its "float" and come to a full friction stop on top of the rail, damaging much of the system. American Maglev and ODU dissolved their relationship and the project became an internal university research project. In October 2006, the research team performed an unscheduled test of the car that went smoothly. The system was subsequently removed from the power grid for nearby construction. In February 2009, the team retested the sled and was successful despite power outages on campus. ODU subsequently partnered with a Massachusetts-based company to test another maglev train. MagneMotion Inc. was expected to bring its prototype maglev vehicle, about the size of a van, to the campus to test in 2010.
SCMaglev
The SCMaglev (superconducting maglev, formerly called the MLU) is a magnetic levitation (maglev) railway system developed by Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) and the Railway Technical Research Institute.
Orlando maglev
A proposed US$400 million magnetic levitation train system would have connected the Orlando International Airport and the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, with a stop at the Florida Mall. The privately funded train line would be built by American Maglev Technology and was once expected to be operational by 2017. If completed, the train would have been the first commercial maglev system in North America.
Railway speed record
The maximum speed attained by a passenger train is held by Japan's experimental maglev train L0 Series, having achieved on a 42.8 km magnetic-levitation track in April 2015.