Maglev

[9][10] The first intercity maglev line is being built in China and will connect Changsha and Liuyang cities in Hunan Province[11][12] In the late 1940s, the British electrical engineer Eric Laithwaite, a professor at Imperial College London, developed the first full-size working model of the linear induction motor.

Early United States patents for a linear motor propelled train were awarded to German inventor Alfred Zehden [de].

[17] In 1908, Cleveland mayor Tom L. Johnson filed a patent for a wheel-less "high-speed railway" levitated by an induced magnetic field.

[18] Jokingly known as "Greased Lightning," the suspended car operated on a 90-foot test track in Johnson's basement "absolutely noiseless[ly] and without the least vibration.

In 1959, while delayed in traffic on the Throgs Neck Bridge, James Powell, a researcher at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), thought of using magnetically levitated transportation.

[23] Powell and BNL colleague Gordon Danby worked out a maglev concept using static magnets mounted on a moving vehicle to induce electrodynamic lifting and stabilizing forces in specially shaped loops, such as figure-of-8 coils on a guideway.

In 1979 the USSR town of Ramenskoye (Moscow oblast) built an experimental test site for running experiments with cars on magnetic suspension.

[34] In the early 1990s, the maglev theme was continued by the Engineering Research Center "TEMP" (ИНЦ "ТЭМП")[35] this time by the order from the Moscow government.

These changes in force are dynamically unstable—a slight divergence from the optimum position tends to grow, requiring sophisticated feedback systems to maintain a constant distance from the track, (approximately 15 millimetres [0.59 in]).

When the vehicle is in the straight ahead position, no current flows, but any moves off-line create flux that generates a field that naturally pushes/pulls it back into line.

[92] Vehicles on this so-called 'magrail' system will be able to reach speeds of up to 300 kilometres per hour (190 mph) at significantly lower infrastructure costs than stand-alone maglev lines.

[105] This total includes capital costs such as right-of-way clearing, extensive pile driving, on-site guideway manufacturing, in-situ pier construction at 25 metres (82 ft) intervals, a maintenance facility and vehicle yard, several switches, two stations, operations and control systems, power feed system, cables and inverters, and operational training.

[107] The Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) Environmental Impact Statement estimated a pricetag at US$4.9 billion for construction, and $53 million a year for operations of its project.

[108] The proposed Chuo Shinkansen maglev in Japan was estimated to cost approximately US$82 billion to build, with a route requiring long tunnels.

[115] In January 2001, the Chinese signed an agreement with Transrapid to build an EMS high-speed maglev line to link Pudong International Airport with Longyang Road Metro station on the southeastern edge of Shanghai.

[117] On a 12 November 2003 system commissioning test run, it achieved 501 kilometres per hour (311 mph), its designed top cruising speed.

At 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph), it is sufficiently fast for frequent stops, has little or no noise impact on surrounding communities, can navigate short radius rights of way, and operates during inclement weather.

[119] The first maglev test trials using electromagnetic suspension opened to public was HML-03, made by Hyundai Heavy Industries for the Daejeon Expo in 1993, after five years of research and manufacturing two prototypes, HML-01 and HML-02.

A June 2013 review of the technology called for an extensive testing program to be carried out to ensure the system complies with various regulatory requirements including the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) People Mover Standard.

The FTA also funded work by General Atomics at California University of Pennsylvania to evaluate the MagneMotion M3 and of the Maglev2000 of Florida superconducting EDS system.

One hundred passengers covered a 42.8-kilometre (26.6 mi) route between the cities of Uenohara and Fuefuki, reaching speeds of up to 500 kilometres per hour (310 mph).

In the first quarter of 2022, Polish technology startup Nevomo completed the construction of Europe's longest test track for passive magnetic levitation.

The 700 meter-long railway track in Subcarpathian Voivodeship in Poland allows vehicles utilizing the company's MagRail system to travel at speeds of up to 160 kph.

[citation needed] The Flexible Levitation on a Track (FLOAT) project, announced by NASA, plans to build a maglev train on the Moon.

In the long-term, the SwissRapide Express was to connect the major cities north of the Alps between Geneva and St. Gallen, including Lucerne and Basel.

[203][204][205] Washington, D.C. to New York City: Using Superconducting Maglev (SCMAGLEV) technology developed by the Central Japan Railway Company, the Northeast Maglev would ultimately connect major Northeast metropolitan hubs and airports traveling more than 480 kilometers per hour (300 miles per hour),[206] with a goal of one-hour service between Washington, D.C. and New York City.

[211] Orlando International Airport to Orange County Convention Center: In December 2012, the Florida Department of Transportation gave conditional approval to a proposal by American Maglev to build a privately run 14.9 miles (24 km), 5-station line from Orlando International Airport to Orange County Convention Center.

NAMTI officials toured the SMT maintenance facility in November 2010 and learned that the cause of the fire was "thermal runaway" in a battery tray.

[citation needed] On 22 September 2006, a Transrapid train collided with a maintenance vehicle on a test/publicity run in Lathen (Lower Saxony / north-western Germany).

[220] Safety is a greater concern with high-speed public transport due to the potential for high impact force and large number of casualties.