Maglev train technology has been touted as the technology of the future for decades but with little progress. The Chinese, however, have recently begun to look at the technology with some surprising results. Above: Shanghai's Maglev. Launched in 2004, it travels at a blinding top speed of 430 km/h and is the world's only commercial high speed maglev in operation today. Photo by flickr user chill.
A quick look at some of the things that make Maglevs work (or not):
Year maglev trains were first patented: 1934
Years until first commercial maglev available: 50
Year the world’s first commercial high-speed maglev opened in Shanghai: 2004
Energy consumption of high speed rail travelling at a speed of 300km/hr: 51 watt hours per seat km
Carbon emissions from short-haul flights: 160 grams per seat km
Cost of Shanghai Maglev line: $1.2 billion USD
Travel time savings versus a car: 38 minutes
Cost per kilometer: $40 million USD
Cost per kilometer for Beijing’s S1 maglev line (under construction): $46 million USD
Cost per kilometer for Beijing’s subway construction: $100 million USD
Proposed Beijing maglev buffers: 22.5m
Proposed speed of Tokyo-Osaka high speed maglev: 482km/h
Time to travel entire 505km: 67 minutes
Time savings versus a plane: 8 minutes
Cost per kilometer: $241 million
Cost per kilometer of New York’s Second Avenue subway: $1.2 billion
Cost of owning your own decommissioned Maglev carriage: $160 USD
2 Comments
The Rheinseilbahn at Koblenz needs 215 kW to transport 3,000 persons per hour at a length of 850 m = about 84 W / seat km.
source: ecological balance sheet
but a bus needs for the same task 1,9 times the primary energy consumption…