iMEDIABLOG: The Science, Evolution & Economics of high speed Magnetic Levitation (MAGLEV) trains.

The clip below looks first at an artists impression of what

Magnetic levitation will allow us to do in the future. It

also looks at the defining characteristics that are used in

Maglev trains. The scientific principles demonstrated are the

Meissner effect, Magnetic levitation and suspension and

the flux trapping effect.

We now see how the above scientific principles

can be applied to create simple magnetic levitation

Here both the magnetic levitation as well as

suspension techniques are shown on a model.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZU5ZSbLuHk

People have also created model magnetic levitation

systems where the power is supplied by solar energy.

This creates an almost self sufficient unit as long as

there is sunlight as shown in the video below.

Now these principles are applied at a larger scale

to create the modern magnetic levitation train.

The movie below is by a company called Transrapid

that has created some of the most popular Maglev

trains in the world today. Here the train shown is from

Transrapid's test track in Germany.

We now look at the first commerical operation of a high speed

magnetic levitation train. This train is located in Shanghai,

connecting the city to its airport. A distance of about 35 kms.

The train reaches speeds of 430km/hr and the entire trip takes

about 1o mins.

The fastest Magnetic levitation trains are now being designed

in Japan to replace the Shinkansen or the Bullet train. They

have reached 581 km/hr on test runs.

This link gives a review of what it feels like to

travel on a high speed maglev train.

This pdf document gives a comparison study

of how much it would cost to build a Maglev

train between some large cities and normal

high speed trains between the same cities.

Another viewpoint to the same arguement.

iMEDIABLOG