http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3256018.stm
Most impressive. Can't wait until they start running a few of these puppies up to Blackpool.
Most impressive. Can't wait until they start running a few of these puppies up to Blackpool.
Maglev
- Thread starter Trawler
- Start date
IIRC the Japanese maglev system is very expensive (although very fast). German system is less expensive (and a bit slower), and Shanghai has a short demo airport line, which top speed is about 430kph. However, it is still too expensive for most long distance lines.
I could never in my wildest dreams imagine a train service that was on time or without serious problems for more than a month at a time in the UK.
WRT these trains how expensive would it be to develop international high speed train links as alternatives to air travel? I can't see it working over long stretches of water but Inter-Europe or Inter-Asia links.
Something as fast as this would also work great over the East and West side of the US.
Chances of anything like this developing are close to zero though.
WRT these trains how expensive would it be to develop international high speed train links as alternatives to air travel? I can't see it working over long stretches of water but Inter-Europe or Inter-Asia links.
Something as fast as this would also work great over the East and West side of the US.
Chances of anything like this developing are close to zero though.
Yeah, read this on Metro this morning...
Pretty impressive.
Now, my question:
How frikking powerful must those magnets be, to be able to lift A WHOLE TRAIN 4 INCHES????
Pretty impressive.
Now, my question:
How frikking powerful must those magnets be, to be able to lift A WHOLE TRAIN 4 INCHES????
Simon F said:
hehehe... must be big leaves they have in japan.... Anyway, yeah i thought that too.. 4 inches is a bit much...
I would guess that the next step would be to put the whole train in a 'tunnel' where the atmosphere has been reduced to a near vacuum. They should then be able to outperform aircraft. (Mind you, they might have to put the maglev on the ceiling if it gets really fast!)
Simon F said:
All this makes me think... Why not sticking to good old cheapo AIRPLANES!!!!!!!??? I mean it sounds like pushing the envelope in technology for the sake of it... Correct me if i'm wrong...
Barnabas said:
Probably too expensive, and at the end of the day it's still slower than an airplane. So, paying billions upon billions for a "shiny gadget that makes people go "OOOOOOOOOHHHH" when you can just stick to cheaper and faster solutions can be seen as "useless"... It does in my eyes. It's nice, it's futuristic, it's everything u want it to be, but we don't really "need" it.
It's like Concorde, we didn't "need" it, but at least Concorde did have an advantage: speed.
This Maglev will need billions worth of investment in infrastructures and it will be decades until it becomes the standard. IF it does, that is. And if it does, it's only normal that Britain will be the last to get it. And when we do get it, it will still be late. Now, go figure...
Again, correct me if i'm wrong...
OK i stand corrected then. Still my Brit-maglev comment is still valid
Sure. I don't know much about the German system, but the Japanese system is definitely too expensive for any large scale development. All high speed train system in the world are still based on the "conventional" technology, which is reliable and much less expensive.
High speed trains are best fit for small countries, like Taiwan (Taiwan may be a little too small). It may be hard to believe, but there are regular flights between Taipei and Kaohsung (distance about 350 km), and it's hard to get a ticket when a big holiday is near. I think it's a big waste of energy. Fortunately, a high speed train project is under way and it should be complete in 2 years.
High speed trains are best fit for small countries, like Taiwan (Taiwan may be a little too small). It may be hard to believe, but there are regular flights between Taipei and Kaohsung (distance about 350 km), and it's hard to get a ticket when a big holiday is near. I think it's a big waste of energy. Fortunately, a high speed train project is under way and it should be complete in 2 years.
Yes, now that you brought it up, the pollution factor is quite important. The amount of pollution avoided by using this thing instead of fossil-based combustion engines would be pretty big. Still, just unfeasible in big terms.
Simon F said:
There was an article on the BBC about six months back about some scientists/engineering groups proposing such a link between England and the States, via a tunnel running on the bottom of the Atlantic!
They seemed to think it was more than plausable, just needed a heap of cash thrown at it and a few decades of work...
Simon F said:
Definately. As you say, the possibility of putting the train in near vacuum would allow for very high speeds to be reached. Pollution would also be a fraction of that of aircraft.
The engineering costs would be vast though. Just imagine the channel tunnel x 50. Could well be some consumer reluctance as well. Not too sure how people would react to being stuck in a tunnel under the Atlantic Ocean for any great length of time.
Gerry said:
Given the speeds, it wouldn't take extremely long... But yeah, i wouldn't want to be stuck in a tunnell under the sea for long periods of time (more than 5 minutes for me)...
Or they could just go Wipeout on us and build a glass tunnell and make it go up and down, over the surface and back in... now THAT i would pay to see...
Gerry said:
I tried searching for the article but couldn't find it. I do remember the speeds being quoted as being extremely fast. I think the total travel time was under three hours.
Update: Found the article on Ananova, but no luck elsewhere.
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_337462.html
This one's got a little more meat on it:
http://www.readersdigest.co.uk/magazine/travel.htm
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