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Germany To Build New Maglev Railway

Posted by kdawson on from the riding-on-a-cloud dept.

EWAdams writes "According to the BBC, the Bavarian state government has announced that it has signed an agreement with Deutsche Bahn, the German state railway system, and the Transrapid consortium, to provide a maglev railway between central Munich and its airport. The only other maglev in full operation at the moment is in Shanghai, again as a city-to-airport service. The cost of the system is estimated at $2.6 billion. No completion date has been announced."

7 of 297 comments (clear)

  1. Monorail! by LiquidCoooled · · Score: 5, Funny

    They will be like North Haverbrook.

    --
    liqbase :: faster than paper
  2. Good for Bavaria by ucla74 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Imagine how wonderful it would be to have such a system between, say, JFK airport and Grand Central Station. But that makes way too much sense, from almost any view, to ever have a chance of actually happening in my lifetime.

  3. Luv it... by djupedal · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The Maglev in Shanghai (built by the Germans) is great fun. The ride takes less than 10 minutes, and you hit a top speed of 433kph - smooth as glass.

    You can frequently find Japanese tour groups that will ride back & forth between the airport and downtown, like it was a theme park ride :)

    When the Shanghai Maglev first went online, ridership was fairly low. The ticket cost is a bit high in local terms... Today, with the Olympics right around the corner, ridership means the train is usually full.

    Plans are in place to build the next one as a longer leg, perhaps between Shanghai and Nanjing.

    1. Re:Luv it... by fdicostanzo · · Score: 5, Informative

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vactrain

      --
      Synergies are basically awesome, and they're even better when you leverage them. -PA
  4. Halbach Arrays by StCredZero · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Halbach Arrays would allow them to build a magnetically levitating train without active control of the magnets. The track would be nothing more than a series of aluminum or copper rings. The levitation doesn't work when the train is stationary, but secondary wheels only designed for low speed on a prepared surface could handle this. (Failure mode away from stations would be for the train to drag its belly. It could be designed to ear up the track, but ensure the passengers safety.) Electromagnetic drag also decreases as the speed of the train increases.

    The resulting track and train would both cost a fraction of what they are currently spending. Both the levitation and guide magnets would be totally passive.

  5. Ripoff.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    At 2.6 Billion that is only about 2-weeks of Iraq war.

    Which would you rather have? A shiny new Maglev or 2-weeks of war. Those Europeans have a warped sense of priorities.

  6. Re:I am strongly opposed to maglev techonology by jcr · · Score: 5, Funny

    Try a sack of iron filings instead.

    -jcr

    --
    The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."