Why Maglev Monorail?

Imagine a train that doesn't touch its track and think of the potential for lower guideway maintenance costs as a result. Imagine a train that speeds along much faster than anything on the highway with a ride as smooth as silk. Imagine that train being capable of speeds higher than any other ground-based transportation system. Maglev can provide this speed and compete directly with airline travel. As stated by American Maglev, "Maglev means magnetically levitated and propelled vehicles. The advantage of maglev is that it can achieve very high speed and acceleration/deceleration performance because the vehicles essentially "fly" at very low altitudes - unlike trains or cars, there is no surface contact or "friction" to slow them down. More speed = more passengers." Only when we have real revenue-producing systems in operation will be able to prove whether this is true or not.


photo courtesy of Chubu HSST Development Corp.

The real advantages of maglev appear to us to be of city-to-city corridors, longer than urban rail systems where stations are only a mile or so apart. Yet there are companies that think even short distances can be served well by maglev as well. Time will tell whether this is true. We anxiously await full-scale systems being implemented so we can see for ourselves. Conventional monorail is proven, maglev monorail is still in its development stage. Test tracks exist, but revenue-producing maglev systems aren't in operation yet. That makes the burden of proof tougher for maglev proponents. We wish them well and look forward to seeing the mode advance successfully.

For more detailed discussion of maglev monorail, be sure to visit our Maglev Monorail Technical Pages.

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