The track is divided into short sections which alternate polarity as the train moves over them. If the train is speeding up, the magnets are timed such that the net force is forward (once gravity is taken into account). Slowing down is done the same way. They probably have some sort of mooring apparatus to keep it steady while people depart.

Thanks for getting back to me, internetcafe111: this is good news indeed, but it still is not the real big step towards a true intercity Maglev network. All of us High-Speed rail and Maglev fans are anxious to see that great step taken! Kiel-Hamburg-Bremen-Hannover down to München, and Berlin-Hannover-Dortmund-Köln-Bonn-Stuttgart, etc., and so on ... Then the start of a pan-European System ...

20 years ago, EPCOT had a book out talking about future transportation and one of the things it mentioned was a system that would allow people to go from New York to Los Angeles in a very short period of time. This Maglev system could be be used for that kind of travel. It's no secret that there are a lot of people afraid to fly. This system could be used for them. Amtrak should seriously consider investing in this.

doing a science fair project on this thank you for the info! making one as a scale model thanx! favoriting!

Wow super. This is the key to attaining anti-gravity and anti-inertia.

well im glad i helped! i like this video a lot too!

@unamaxify Trains need more energy: 1) to overcome friction between the wheels and the rails, and 2) to move the heavier vehicles+wheel sets, which *have* to be heavy to ensure enough wheel-rail friction to keep the trains on the tracks. All maglev technologies have in common that they use much lighter vehicles and only have to overcome air friction, meaning much lower energy consumption to move the vehicles. Transrapid's energy consumption is mainly onboard power for the electromagnets.

...is something that all informed and interested citizens should make a persistent priority.

In reply to teej70's comment, the Japanese maglev is only an experimental line, and yes, it has attained a higher speed than the Thyssen-Siemens Transrapid, clocking at over 500 km/h. There are several features of the Transrapid which make it superior to the Japanese "Linear Motor Car": it's set outside the guideway, which I believe makes it easier to switch - the LMC is set inside the guideway, and I have difficulty visualizing how switches ("points") would work. More follows.

@unamaxify For the Transrapid, yes, because of its servo-controlled electromagnets that pull the undercarriage up toward the guideway. It can carry light freight in airplane containers at full speed but heavy freight is limited to something like 120 (km/h? mi/h?). Superconducting/null-flux designs give much greater lifting power and inherent stability. Quadrupole magnets, arranged the full length of a vehicle (unlike the JR maglev) can carry heavy freight at 500 km/h: ultra-high speed freight.

@Salguodelaev also the design of the system is that if power failure happens and it stops over a bridge, no problem as the electricity is only used to pull the train along at 500 Km/h. the magnets are used to repel the train or attract, based on the requirements and enforcements from the complex programing, the train against the track. so in conclusion power failure = train slows down due to air resistance

has the construction started already? or still on the drawing board?

@ICEYMONTAGES Vacuum is like space (there is still, very small amount of gas in space), it is empty of matter. So if this train travels in a vacuum, it can go really fast because there is no air resistance and no friction between the track and the train.

Yes, marzolian; you're quite right! Have you checked out the Scottish MagLev Initiative? MagLev is absolutely the wave of the future, and, properly funded, PUBLICLY, and constructed to the highest standards, will serve for the next 100 years, with upgrades and proper maintenance before needing reconstruction. It will be the motor for a great surge of optimism and prosperity, if it is adopted worldwide..

exactly..watch this before making any type of presentation and it'll give you a good format

@tubelev Not faulty at all. The main reasons why it hasn't been adopted in the US (or even in Germany where it was developed): 1) material-intensive guideways require expensive construction in entirely new, hard to approve corridors, just like high speed rail; 2) the Transrapid guideways are completely incompatible with existing rail infrastructure and would need special dedicated corridors within cities. This is part of what defeated the Munich airport maglev: cost overruns for tunnels.

One thing we have to admit - the Japanese have great technology and invest huge amount of money in science. These are things other countries have to take as example and implement them as fast as possible. I'm quite sure that in the near future MagLev-transportation will be one of the wonders of that we'll use in our everyday life. Japanese trains are the most secure in the whole world. Even most of the earthquakes didn't take any casualties travelling with train.

What is needed, not only for simply upgrading high-quality transportation in the the U.S., but, by introducing the Wave of The Future, as part of a general FDR-type jump-start for the U.S. economy, actually saving the Nation, and by extension, the world, from a catastrophe, is a general educating of the American public on the great benefits a national MagLev network would bring.

wowiejunior, Thank heaven for optimists like you! Your reply has very much lifted my spirits and restored my optimism. Of course it will come in its perfect time; it is as inevitable as the rotation of the Galaxy on its axis. Thank you.

this train is the coolest thing ever!!

Amazing! Imagine if we had these trains all over the entire world. Our invoriment would be so much better, and it would also go so much faster to travel around!

For Transrapid trains with electromagnetic suspension, yes: the more mass to lift, the more power needed from the on-board systems, which limits Transrapid's freight capabilities. For superconducting maglev, no. These are essentially extremely powerful magnets, and the null-flux guideway loop configuration guarantees a magnetic "lock" that automatically induces magnetic fields that instantly counteract any force moving the vehicle toward the guideway. No extra power needed.

Downtown Shanghai (Loyang Road) - Pudong International Airport maglev line (double-guideway, 34 km, journey time in station to station 6-8 minutes; max speed at mid-point: 431 km/h, has been in service since 2002; trains run every 20 mins in both directions.

Maglev is the best transport technology that can help the world in transportation needs

@toyyyoootaaa This is the Shanghai Transrapid MagLev. It is in China first of all, and designs are German. It is also an Electromagnetic Train, not Electrodynamic like Japan uses.

Bravo DrakeMagnum! If our Republic is still functioning as intended, then letters to our Congressional representatives, meetings with them, urging, exhorting them and inisisting that our great nation reverse the idiotic trend away from development, and making the construction of a national MagLev net the sign of such a restoration.

yes! the same reason why that ride reaches 105mph! now, minus the friction of wheels = 500kmph

2011... Well, no floating cars yet, but we got floating trains.

They should build one of these along the east coast. Say From Washington to Boston with stops in Philly and New York. That would significantly cut the travel time down between the cities.

i agree.....on any angle...the German maglev is practical...and highly feasible for commercial use this the shang hai airprt link

If you check your video time line...you will see a "video-picture" of Union Station...which is located in Wash DC...it shows up at exact 7:46 at the end of the VIDEO.

Wow, I can't wait till these are used!

I ride train most of the time so something like his is awesome...I hate late night bumpy ride...Also less moving parts = less maintenance

They should build one of these from New York to Los Angeles. At 300 mph, it would take ten hours to reach your destination.

I also gather that Transrapid offered to adjust the route of the elevated double-guideway Maglev line so that it would skirt the field in question, but the greens, for strictly ideological reasons- in what I believe to be genuine fear and hatred of Maglev and all it stands for - would have none of it.

This is too awesome, the only parts of the train that wear out are the doors xD. With this tech you can have a 150 y/o train runing like day one

@Zahn cheers mate. Awesome stuff.

MagLev trains in tunnels where the air/gas has been sucked out are a lot faster simply because of greatly reduced "drag". Apparently to some people these train systems already exist deep underground from black budget investments. It has been postulated that drag reduced suspended underwater tunnel systems using maglev technology would be the most efficient transcontinental transportation.

@TZMSocialEvolution is that the same one on Extreme Engineering on the Discovery where they feature a proposed transatlantic tunnel, something which is a combination of rail and pipe transport but then again I wonder how they would deal with the implications of plate techtonics and continental shifts, in a few million years these babies would be entangled.

I live in Europe and also wouldn't like to go travel with a regular train, for example, from Budapest to Berlin. So you can ask 'europeans don't like trains, why build maglevs?' But, if there were maglevs, I think they would be an alternative of airplanes, and most of people would prefer them.

@grpsxd No, there is a magic universal law that prevents any human or entity from performing construction on a tunnel for a mag-lev train.

@welhungjohnson yeas a 300MPH im sure it would be quick, however, if you listen closeley, its designed for operating speeds of 300-500KILOMETERS per hour. however, this is just the prototype, future developments in trains utilising the meissner effect and other magnetic levitation phenomena are currently underway but in sore need of funding. but some time in teh near future, i think we will see that link at that speed :)

If you had a maglev train in a partial vacuum tube with an air density about the same as that of 70,000 ft. above earth, it would be possible to generat speeds of up to 6,000 mph. You could travel between new york and los angeles in about 30 min.

I understand that some people enjoy living in the stone age, but it's the 21st century, people! We need to start somewhere if we're ever going to catch up to the Jetsons!

BEAUTIFUL

The suburbs exist, Amiduffer, and, where I grew up, in London (within the main city, i.e., Kensington/Chelsea/Fulham), & was familiar with many of the leafy Victorian neigbourhoods; they are very beautiful to live in, with fast and regular rail services into the capital. In the case of London, the city simply expanded along the rail lines. In America, it's another story altogether, but, I say, they exist - what, tear them down? I think there's a better way.

@Rayden440 Yup. Could go about 4,000mph in a vacuum tube system. Popular Mechanics did a story on this back in 2004. It's possible, plausible, and WICKED faster than planes. Plus it's cleaner, less noisy, and no sonic boom to deal with since it's in a vacuum.

@crzer07 It probably was, but I don't know. As for tectonics, you mentioned a big point...a few million years. Any design of this nature would account for that as a basic safety feature. Plus, over time, it could be modified and adjusted to account for the shifting. Or, make it out of shape memory alloys so it could bend with the shift. Who knows, but that's the beauty of doing the studies and proper research to get it done. :)

Also, the interior of the Japanese "LMC" seems far less spacious, and designed like the tubular interior of an airliner, with tiny ports instead of windows, cramped seating, like coach in an aircraft, all facing one way, whereas, note how roomy, light and airy the Shanghai Transrapid is, with wide and tall windows, comfortable seating, etc.

Amazing technology I am sure this was invented in England first, but got no funding because returns on investment were too long.

Right on, Amudiffer! Hello, readers; just think: If we had the requisite kinds of light-rail, suburban-rail systems worthy of any civilized nation,, and yo'all kive in the 'burbs, you just take a ride to the Central, Downtown High-Speed Rail/ Maglev station, arrive ten minutes before departure, and travel in almost silent smooth comfort, arrive at the Downtown of your destination-city fresh and ready. Compare that to the hassles related with road or air travel.

this sound all very good but normal trains use less energy because they don't have to lift the train up -> granted if normal trains would go as fast as a maglev it would use more energy - the video says that infrastructure cost are the same, however i remember having read an article that said the very high infrastructure cost were the reason why maglevs are such a rare sight.

California high-speed rail should be like this!

You do know that container freight ships have started using kite-like sails and are way more ecological. I guess it's more for the savings than environment but the result is the same. A lot of research is made in the aviation industry as well but it's trickier cause the flying takes a lot of energy.

this is briliant!

See, in the US, few people use trains to travel places, compared to places where Maglev trains do exist (such as Asia and Europe). It would be much too expensive to replace all tracks in the US with those shown in the video.

Serious mass transit is an intelligent inevitability that us Americans just cannot seem to swallow as a culture. It's a bummer. Maglev sounds great to me.

great video now in english please

Ah! Amiduffer, a man after my own heart, when I see those special words FDR style capital budgets, and yes, the deliberate creation of "suburbs" has been a disaster, both socially and economically: the traditional, proper city, is a better way of doing it, but suburbs can be integrated, and beautifully, too, keeping all this in mind!

I would argue about comfort inside the train's cars. The ride isn't as smooth as the video suggests, and it's quite noisy too. I mean, it's comfortable enough to get to and from the airport in Shanghai, but I think the noise would be a serious issue at longer distances.

were in the same country....lets "hope" together!

Yes, internetcafe111, I must say that I remain optimistic that Maglev will become the universally adopted high-speed ground transportation it is intended to be: a World-spanning Land Bridge, all the way from the UK, across Eurasia to the Bering Strait Tunnel across the US, Down and Up N & S America, Up and Down Eurasia, into and all across Africa. All as part of a new Renaissance for all mankind.

Like our new Siemens Combino trams here in Budapest, which ones breaks down if there's a mediocre rain, because of some cables get soaked? LOL

the answer is no, while the magnets levitate the train up, the weight if the train will push (or pull technically) the magnets down to the earth.

iwasjusthinkn: You are right! The only person I know of who has been calling for the best solutions to the grave and pressing problems besetting the U.S. (and by extenstion, the world) is Lyndon LaRouche. No one else seems to be even aware of the right, just, sane, decent and moral solutions! So I urge people to read and study LaRouche, his associates and the Youth Movement!

Sqaaak, it would make more sense to link major economic centers, not just state capitols. In many US states the capital city is neither the largest nor the most important, economically. Examples, in the four largest states by population: Sacramento (California), Austin (Texas), Albany (New York), Tallahassee (Florida).

all we need now is to make the world one big superconductor for other vehicules

(3) The once solid base of well-paid, secure, productive, high skill jobs, backed by a strong Union tradition, has been severely undermined in Germany, the US, the UK, and other developed nations. Correct me if I'm wrong, but was it not the "green" faction in Chancellor Schröeder's coaltion govt which effectively blocked the first intercity maglev line in Germany? I understand it was because the line would cross a field which contained an endangered species of wildflower?

I bet it feels soft riding it!!!

@wowiejunior I've heard these "tracks" have to be kept a certain temperature, which means they would not work properly in desert terrain. Is this accurate?

this is a great breakthrough in mass transit. however, i dont believe this will be used often in the U.S. due to the fact that people will steal the track to sell the metal. people already do it with transformers. in countries with low crime this may be a great asset, however

@bobcatmustard It doesn't suddenly break; it gradually decelerates. The guideways are segregated by level from anything around them, so the vehicles are unlikely to hit anything but birds or something deliberately left on the guideway (and the nose is built to absorb such collisions). The only collision this system has had (a fatal crash killing a dozen or more visitor passengers on the Emsland test track) involved a maintenance vehicle negligently left on the track.

all comments are true but the point that I was attempting to make is that with speeds that approach 500 Km/h...which is equlivalent to 310+ Miles Per Hour this system would compete QUITE Effectively against the AIR LINES..Jet Travel insteat of flying short stops between Baltimore Washington DC NYC Boston the maglev would reduce air traffic congestion PLUS you'd have this viable alternative between Indianapolis Cincinnatti and Chicago Millwauki Chicago to ST Louis

Very glad to read this (if the newage greens don't sabotage it again as they did last time), but I believe it's like the Shanghai line: downtown to airport - not a big deal. We need someone - the people! - who have the courage to stand up to the oligarchy and get their govt to mandate serious intercity and international, transcontinental lines. I believe there is going to be a double-guideway line Shanghai - Hangzhou: 200 km, which will be the first intercity line.

amazing..! thanks for posting this vid..

Can we expect this for cars anytime soon? Would the roads need to be relaid with the magnets beneath?

@YoyoFlamingo It would be hardx for the maglev vehicle to derail as it is clasping the guideway.

Investment in a National System of MagLev lines linking all state capitals of the contiguous U.S., in the context of a restoration of sane economic practice such as was the policy outlook of the three FDR administations, would save the U.S. from looming catastrophe, and be the sign of a return to health and sanity.

This technology and geothermal energy combined - ET3!!!

4) That was the end of that optimistic move to give Germany, and by extension, Europe and the rest of the world, the prospect of a more just and prosperous future, via great infrastructure projects like Maglev and High-Speed Rail (but Maglev is the true wave of the future). But the struggle is far from over; I believe many people will awake from the deception.

Very glad to read that the German govt is going ahead, notwithstanding that Ch. Merkel stands for the British, Thatcher-style privatizing impulse! It were better that any national Maglev system should be in the public sector, along with conventional High-Speed Rail (DB). I'm also very glad that Herr Mehdorn has "changed his attitude"! And, can you please tell me how many km the new Maglev will be?

we need these for subways

Good video! Big Question: If lack the energy to the linear motor, what happens to the maglev? He drops? Does the maglev had baterys to ensure the levitation? I know that are 3 types of levitation: by atraction, repulsion and indutrack. And that some have wheels for safety and to adquire speed to can levitate. Thank you and i'm sorry for the english. Best Regards

@tforce25 No Phx to Anaheim. Making a stop at Tucson and Vegas.

Tesla's idea work of course !!! He is best engineer ever !!!

we could sure USE this in the USA....

@kiwehtin Yeah but if you load heavy cargo on a Maglev train it's going to use allot of energy to lift that cargo, it won't matter if you have light vehicles if you load heavy cargo on them. Train companies mainly earn their money on very heavy cargo that is too impractical to move with trucks. Maglev trains may be superior for transporting passengers so they should really be used to replace plains, not classic trains on rails.

@welhungjohnson What about stations in the middle of it? Also, the train isn't ALWAYS at full speed, so, in real world, it would need about 12 or more hours to get form one place to another.

I know that it would call for added complications, but if you were to create a vacuum tunnel to house the tracks, this train would be incredibly efficient I dont fully grasp exactly how this works (I suck at electronics), but I know with gas engines a drag-free vacuum would allow over like 3,000 mph, is the same true with this? Imagine new york to LA in 1 hour for a tiny fraction of airline costs, with minimal environmental damage

Nice video with a lot of propaganda. They don't say a lot of minus about this train. Let me also don't mension them except one which is the efect of any object passing fast. If you don't know then just go anywhere at the roadside and waite for heavy truck to pass you with high speed, from there you will know. All in all wish them good luck to overcome all problems and come up with technology friendly for the inviroments.

I'd use that over an airplane any day!

amazing...but in italy this tecnolgy can arrive not early of 30 years

Again, Amiduffer, I find myself in agreement with you, re boomers; I'm a 68er, and went thru' the sex-drugs-rock counterculture, but, due to my Classical upbringing, and certain key encounters with my teachers and music-professors, I was never convinced, and have, over the past decade, rediscovered the whole Classical Paradigm in Art, Science, Poetry, Music and Statecraft. Yes, Ayn Rand is the source of much evil.

(Continued) I suppose they COULD build this train, but it won't be completely green until we replace our source of energy for it. On the other hand, it would replace a lot of traffic going to and from whatever destination it goes to and from, so it would still be greener then what we already have. So like I said, the major factor is money, and also how it seems thanks to legal tape and general silliness in the goverment projects in the USA are slow to get off the ground.

@pbasjan Oh, it *would* be profitable, no less so than high speed rail. Part of the problem is that this is first generation technology and just like the Japan Railways maglev (a completely different technology developed by the Americans Powell and Danby), the design involves expensive, capital-intensive guideways and like high speed rail makes anything but long distance intercity express applications uneconomical. P&D's new "Magneticglide" quadrupole maglev design avoids these limitations.

And what happens when it snows when the entire train network that's been around for well over a hundred years as it is gets disrupted?

What I mean is: if you want something better than, or as well as, those expensive parking lots called freeways, full of bloated SUVs with only one person, the driver, it would be proactive, provisional, future-oriented, and requiring the best of us, and would be an expression of sanity, commonsense and wisdom, to see to it that the Nation invests, in the manner of the FDR administrations, in MagLev and all the other necessary improvements and advances worthy of this great country.

do you know how long it will take to make a completely vacuumclosed area for a maglev to travel in? ... ATLEAST 10 years, im sure...

I like that idea better! :)

they need to change all the subways in new york into maglev trains!