what makes mag lev trains so special?

Colin A asked:

What are pros and cons of mag lec trains and how efficent would they be in a small county?

3 Responses to “what makes mag lev trains so special?”

  1. Wrap it up B. on June 4th, 2007 at 4:19 am

    they use hardly any energy and can go 361 mph at this point. there is a company talking about making an international one that can go like 3000mph i think. talked about in this MUST SEE movie for everyone on the planet

  2. GibsonEssGee on June 4th, 2007 at 5:06 pm

    Maglev trains seem to be better on a large scale rather than a small scale. There used to be one between Birmingham Airport and the National Exhibition Centre (about 1/2 mile) but it was discontinued whereas Germany has pressed ahead with a programme of full sized Maglev trains successfully.

  3. Pro: Sooper High Tech so people will think they’re cool.

    Con: extremely expensive to build, which is the best news possible if you’re the construction company.

    Con: only 4 MPH (7 kph) faster than regular railroad. Compare:
    maglev 361 mph
    TGV 357 mph

    Con: Maglev can only run on special maglev track. TGV can continue past the end of high-speed track onto regular railroad, for 1-seat service up branchlines and into downtowns where it would be too expensive to tear down buildings to build another route.

    Con: High speed regular railroad readily available from companies like GE, CXT, Marmon, A&K, HTT, etc. and the machines (Harsco/Nordco) and crews already know how to build this type of track.

    Con: You would need to convince Washington maglev is safe. Regular railroad is already approved to 200mph.

    Con: There’s nothing maglev can do that regular railroad can’t do at 1/4 the cost.

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