Maglev trains are the fastest trains in the world! Maglev is short for magnetic levitation which basic principles involve the use of magnetism to levitate an object.
3. ABSTRACT
Maglev concept was based on using lightweight, very high
current superconducting loops suitably positioned on a
streamlined vehicle.
As the vehicle moves along a guideway containing loops of
ordinary aluminium wire at ambient temperature, the
superconducting loops induce small electric currents in the
guideway loops that are directly underneath them.
The magnetic interaction of the permanent currents in the
superconducting loops with the induced currents in the
guideway loops automatically levitates the vehicle.
If an external force (e.g. a wind gust, curve, or change in
grade) acts on the vehicle, a magnetic force automatically
and immediately develops to oppose the external force.
4. The magnetic force pushes the vehicle back toward its
normal equilibrium suspension point. Since Maglev
vehicles do not contact the guideway, their speed is
not constrained by mechanical stresses, friction, or
wear.
The speed is limited only by aerodynamic drag or
straightness of route.
Passengers will then be able to travel between New
York and Los Angeles, for example, in a little over an
hour, with virtually no energy required.
5. INTRODUCTION
Maglev = magnetic + levitation.
First described by Robert Goddard, American Rocket
Scientist, 1909 Scientific American.
Next, 1912, French engineer, modeled it, Emile
Bachelet, eddy-current repulsive levititation, amount
of power needed too high to run… lack of funding.
6. Uses magnets to float the train along the track.
No friction.
Cheat gravity.
Very quiet.
Travels very fast (up to 250 mph).
Requires all new train track to be built.
Can’t run on old train track, needs magnet system.
7. Expensive to build, but cheap to run.
Cost for labor and energy:
Air travel = approx. $ 14 per mile.
Maglev travel = approx. $ 04 to $ 10 per mile.
Cost to build Maglev train tracks = $5 million per two-
way mile.
Cost to build new airport , anywhere from $500 million
to $1 billion.
8. PRESENT TRENDS
General Atomics has received US$90 million in
research funding from the federal government. They
are also looking to apply their technology to high-
.
speed passenger services
Transrapid, a German maglev company, has a test
track in Emsland with a total length of 31.5 km
(19.6 mi).
Japan has a demonstration line in Yamanashi
prefecture where test trains JR-Maglev MLX01 have
reached 581 km/h (361 mph), slightly faster than any
wheeled trains.
9. PROGRESS PLAN
The news last week that the U.S. government would
distribute $90 million in grants for maglev planning
studies excited those who see the technology as the future of
transportation.
Germany advanced a proposal for a Berlin-Hamburg line, and
then a project from Munich to its airport, but both corridors
were canceled after the government refused to commit the
necessary funds.
Executives at the Central Japan Railway Company have a huge
ambition: to connect Tokyo and Osaka in one hour with a new
300 mph maglev system.
The first phase of the project could open by 2025 between Tokyo
and Nagoya, but this segment alone would cost more than $50
billion to build.
10. FUTURE TRENDS
Maglev trains are considerably faster than conventional trains.
By 2035, a trip from Toronto to Vancouver, the south east of
China, will take 3 hours, as opposed to the current trip of 3 days.
After this technology has been approved by people, it will render
most domestic flights on airplanes obsolete as people can
assume speeds faster than an airplane without the dangers of
hijacker, terrorism, or faulty piloting by human pilots.
By the end of the 21st century, every town with a population of
20,000 people or more in North America will be connected by a
highly detailed maglev train system.
This hemispherical maglev network will eventually connect to
similar towns in Central America and South America (once an
enduring stable democracy is in place).
11. CONCLUSION
They consume less energy.
Time consuming.
Move faster than normal trains because they are not
affected by ground friction; their rights-of-way,
meanwhile, cost about the same to build.
Incompatible with existing rail lines, unlike
traditional high-speed rail.
Initial cost is very high.
