In my previous post, I touched on the subject of Maglev Trains. This title is not quite accurate, as it is not strictly speaking, a train. Conventional wheeled trains and Maglev systems can not be readily compared as they are so different in concept.
As mentioned, in 2003 a Maglev reached 581 kp/h (361 mph). On April 3 2007, a French TGV, (Train a` Grande Vitesse, which means high speed train) reached almost 575 kp/h (a fraction over 357 mph), just 6 kp/h less than the Maglev, but how they did it is what separates them. The TGV which was conceived as gas turbine powered, but evolved as electric locomotives, took 72.4 km (45.0 miles) to accelerate to its 575 kp/h, and a further 77.25 km (48.0 miles) to stop. That is a total of just under 150 km or 93 miles. The Maglev on the other hand, did it’s 581.0 km/h (361.0 mph) start to stop in just 18.4 km which is only 11.4 miles.
The first mention of a magnetic powered vehicle was US patents taken out in 1907. German patents taken out 1937 - 1941 were the first mention of the term Maglev. A Professor Laithwaite built the first full sized model of a Linear Induction Motor in the late forties, in the early seventies he discovered a new arrangement of the magnets would provide lift (levitation) and also drive. This he called Traverse Flux, which paved the way for the true Maglev system. The first commercial application was opened in Birmingham England in 1984, travelling 600 metres (2000 ft) from the International Airport to the International railway station at 42 kp/h (26 mph) until closed in 1995.
The Maglev system consists of a ‘car’ (it can not be accurately described as a locomotive or an engine) and a guide rail or track. The broad principles of the systems are the same, there are four or five distinct systems in use or under development, but this will be discussed in a future post. The car has magnets attached to the underside, and the guide rails have magnets built in. They act in unison to lift the vehicle an inch or two above the track and control lateral movement to within some claim, as little as two millimetres. So the Maglev is actually flying.
This ability gives some unique advantages over conventional wheeled trains. The projected life of the Guide rails is claimed to be in excess of eighty years, as the Maglev has no physical contact with them. The Maglev itself boasts minimal maintenance, as there are no moving parts. Zero emit ions and a particularly smooth and quiet ride are claimed, bat the latter advantage becomes questionable as the speed increases. Above 100 mph, drag becomes the main enemy of efficiency, but to be fair, the French TGV and the Japanese 'Bullet' train suffer the same drawback.
One major advantage enjoyed by the Maglev is its ability to accelerate and decelerate much faster than wheeled trains. Having no direct contact with the guide rails, braking is not dependant on friction between wheels and rails so is totally unaffected by adverse weather conditions, i.e. snow and ice. Most countries that operate high speed trains have acted to limit their speed mainly to conserve wheels and tracks. The Chinese have restricted them to 300 kp/h (190 mph), while most others have similar limits.
When they reached the perceived limits of their development, the piston engined aircraft were supplanted by jets. Similarly steam was ousted by diesel and diesel electric. Perhaps now we have reached the limit of the wheel and steel rail partnership. The Maglev has shown itself to be reliable and economical to run, and installation costs, once prohibitive, are getting closer to that of conventional steel tracks. Exciting new developments are occurring like the Inductrack and Amlev systems, but more on that next time.
