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Germany To Build Maglev Railway
Europe's new age of the train continues apace. France opened a TGV line to the eastern reaches of the nation and Germany in June. November sees the opening of the high-speed line between the Channel Tunnel and London's beautiful St Pancras. And this week, the German state of Bavaria announced that it had found funds to build a 37km high-speed Maglev service between Munich's city centre and its airport.
Maglev - "magnetic levitation" - trains float above their tracks using electromagnets. Less friction means higher speeds: Trains can reach 500km/h (310mph). The Germans see Maglev trains as one of the signs of their technical prowess. It's a sign of modernity elsewhere too, with Shanghai's Transrapid Maglev (the only other working high speed commercial system in the world) a source of national pride. Venezuela is also said to be building a Maglev system.
Previous Maglev projects were shelved due to high power cost. However, supporters of the Transrapid model point to the fact that the train uses more energy on air conditioning than on floating the train.
Japan, no slouch in the high-speed rail stakes, plans a Maglev service for 2025. Unlike the Shanghai and German schemes, it will be a long-distance track running between Tokyo and Osaka in an hour. Maglev projects in Europe and China have been limited to relatively short journeys.
