gorbash81's Blog

HIGH SPEED TRAINS!

High Speed Maglev Trains and Bullet Trains Could Be a Solution to Both our Dependence on Foreign Oil, and Greenhouse Gas Emissions.

Save money on energy, reduce our dependence on oil, and save the environment!

A Maglev or Magnetically levitating train is a form of transportation that suspends off the ground and propels itself forward using electromagnetic force. Its much faster and quiter than wheeled rail trains.

A Maglev train can potentially reach speeds of 600 mph, nearly the speed of a turboprop or jet aircraft engine! In 2003 a Japanese Maglev train achieved 361 mph.

Countries that have made the Maglev train a key part of mass transportation infrastructure are Germany, France, Japan, and recently China.

The first commercial use Maglev mass transportation system was opened in 1984 in Birmingham, England. between the Birmingham International Airport and the Birminham International railway system, it only ran at 26 mph.

As the sytems have been tried and tested, faster and more reliable systems were built, like the German built Transrapid train in Shanghai, China that transports people 19 miles to the airport in 7.5 minutes achieving top velocity of 268 mph with an average of 150 mph!

Japan is a country that has put alot of research and development into Maglev technology and have been putting it to good use.

The systems vary in types of propulsion and lift, but they usually consist of alternating magnets of negatives and positives that push the train forward, while other magnets underneath the train and on the rail push the train up in the air, reducing friction and allowing it to move much faster.

Without friction, their is only air resistance and electromagnetic drag, which makes it much more efficient with electricity.