Not really. Maglev isn’t a pipedream. The Transrapid is a fully functional technology that could be built anytime. It has never been done (as intercity line), mainly because the Chinese made the decision to stick with traditional HSR technology after building a fully functioning (and reliably working for already 20 years) Transrapid demonstration system to the Shanghai airport. I do agree that it was the right call for China, but not because Transrapid is a pipedream, rather that traditional HSR is more efficient financially. What I am still scratching my head over though is that Germany was so short sighted to first develop a fully functional mature technoloy and then being so stingy to not even build a demonstration corridor over a few millions being saved. In my opinion it was a mistake not to build the Hamburg-Berlin corridor back in the day. Yes, it would have been more expensive but it would have been a unique thing certainly drawing crowds on its own, beside giving a rapid intercity connection that would have worked reliably.
For a manageable premium in costs, it should be totally possible to build a proper intercity Transrapid corridor. At speeds beyond 350 km/h it could be reasonable, except that Maglev doesn’t solve the air resistance issue, which is the reason why no one has really pushed beyond 400 km/h yet.
The Transrapid isn’t done though. China has decided to build the first generation HSR network traditionally, but they are developing Maglev for future implementations, based on their Transrapid experience. The image above is from their current prototype of a next generation Transrapid based maglev.
Makes you think that a technology that is 30 years old hasn’t been put in service once…
But this is beside the point. Public transport is about a fast, reliable and comfortable option for the daily commute, to replace cars. Not about making long-range options an hour faster…
It has been in service for 20 years but only on a single short line. it is clear that the technology is more expensive than the HSR in Germany that is at 300 km/h or below, and then DB is an absolute mess nowadays anyway, incapable or incompetent of building the regular rail projects it is even contractually obliged to.
Your definition of public transport is very strange. Rail, including Maglev, can serve different purposes. Inter-city connections are one of those. I know it is a fairly foreign concept to many Americans even though you can find those things at least in some corners of the country. If it is one hour faster, this enables corridors that were not feasible before. It is the question if the costs still make sense but we can’t know until we see an actual line being built. China appears to still believe that the technology makes sense, otherwise they’d have not invested into more R&D based on the Transrapid technology. We’ll see if they will make something out of it. Germany is probably not large enough to actually have any national need for a system as fast as +400 km/h. China being considerably larger might be a different story.
Not really. Maglev isn’t a pipedream. The Transrapid is a fully functional technology that could be built anytime. It has never been done (as intercity line), mainly because the Chinese made the decision to stick with traditional HSR technology after building a fully functioning (and reliably working for already 20 years) Transrapid demonstration system to the Shanghai airport. I do agree that it was the right call for China, but not because Transrapid is a pipedream, rather that traditional HSR is more efficient financially. What I am still scratching my head over though is that Germany was so short sighted to first develop a fully functional mature technoloy and then being so stingy to not even build a demonstration corridor over a few millions being saved. In my opinion it was a mistake not to build the Hamburg-Berlin corridor back in the day. Yes, it would have been more expensive but it would have been a unique thing certainly drawing crowds on its own, beside giving a rapid intercity connection that would have worked reliably.
For a manageable premium in costs, it should be totally possible to build a proper intercity Transrapid corridor. At speeds beyond 350 km/h it could be reasonable, except that Maglev doesn’t solve the air resistance issue, which is the reason why no one has really pushed beyond 400 km/h yet.
The Transrapid isn’t done though. China has decided to build the first generation HSR network traditionally, but they are developing Maglev for future implementations, based on their Transrapid experience. The image above is from their current prototype of a next generation Transrapid based maglev.
Makes you think that a technology that is 30 years old hasn’t been put in service once…
But this is beside the point. Public transport is about a fast, reliable and comfortable option for the daily commute, to replace cars. Not about making long-range options an hour faster…
It has been in service for 20 years but only on a single short line. it is clear that the technology is more expensive than the HSR in Germany that is at 300 km/h or below, and then DB is an absolute mess nowadays anyway, incapable or incompetent of building the regular rail projects it is even contractually obliged to.
Your definition of public transport is very strange. Rail, including Maglev, can serve different purposes. Inter-city connections are one of those. I know it is a fairly foreign concept to many Americans even though you can find those things at least in some corners of the country. If it is one hour faster, this enables corridors that were not feasible before. It is the question if the costs still make sense but we can’t know until we see an actual line being built. China appears to still believe that the technology makes sense, otherwise they’d have not invested into more R&D based on the Transrapid technology. We’ll see if they will make something out of it. Germany is probably not large enough to actually have any national need for a system as fast as +400 km/h. China being considerably larger might be a different story.