Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
This is not futuristic stuff. A maglev train is operating today
in China, carrying passengers between downtown Shanghai and
its airport, the Pudong International Airport. The train covers a
distance of 18.6 miles in just over 7 minutes, averaging approxi-
mately 150 mph and boasting a top speed of 268 mph.
Other maglev vehicles are currently being run on test tracks
in several parts of the world. One in Japan reached 361 mph.
Engineers there say that there is really no reason why a speed
of 500-600 mph can't be achieved. (Perhaps passenger terror
would become a factor at those speeds. There must come a point
when, no matter how smooth the ride might be, extreme speeds
at ground level become fearful for anyone without the psyche of
a test pilot.)
Because the maglev train has literally no contact with the
guideway, there is no friction and virtually no sound. Witnesses
at a maglev test track in Germany reported being able to hear a
pair of crows cawing while the train was racing by.
Although potentially able to travel much faster than today's
bullet trains and the TGV, a maglev system offers virtually the
same benefits: it's energy efficient, pollution free, and safe. Fur-
thermore, once all testing and certification has been completed,
maglev trains can be ordered up “off the shelf,” with manufactur-
ers offering standardized vehicles to systems around the world.
Some estimates say that the cost of building a maglev system
will be about the same as building a high-speed rail. Even if you
have just a casual interest in this futuristic stuff, stay tuned—we
haven't seen anything yet!
But First, Baby Steps
Maglev is all well and good, and it's exciting to see interest in
high-speed rail. The more immediate problem, however, is to make
sure our conventional rail system stays up and running. We turned
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