Lupin’s sleek concept focuses mainly around redesigning the interior of the trains along with an array of upgrades that extend beyond the cosmetic genre.  A long bench of seats runs down the middle of the train with transparent windows from floor to ceiling. The passengers can enter and exit on either side of the eco train and can simply press a button to signal their stop. A projector displays information such as the weather, time or advertisements onto the windows on either side.

Solar panels mounted on the roof of the train provide power for its operation as well as lighting and charging stations inside for the passengers. The solar panels are mounted in such a way that they can rotate automatically in order to maximize solar access. The maglev technology makes this train fast, smooth and more energy efficient, while an automatic pilot system guides the train via computer, eliminating the need for an operator.

by Shailesh Rade

The hoverboard is equipped with an electromagnetic system to enable levitation along with a laser system to stabilize the hoverboard. While making the hoverboard, Guadagnin was thinking about different ways of presenting a sculpture. The masterpiece is a reflection of numerous possibilities of giving the hoverboard full spatial autonomy.

Unfortunately the hoverboard is not capable of holding enough weight for people to actually ride it. But that day is not very far when we can actually see hoverboards operating like maglev trains where people can just hop on the board and travel to their destinations.

Maglev Turbine Train by *alterdstate777

But the all new evacuated tube maglev train is a new ray of hope in the realm of transportation. The train does not cause any noise or air pollution, consumes less than a tenth of energy as compared to an aircraft and has almost 0% of accident rate even at a speed of 4,000 kilometers per hour, which is its minimum speed. This means that the total travel time from Beijing to Washington will be reduced to only 2 hours by the train.

A seminar was held on 29^th December 2004 and was presented by many Chinese experts including eight academic members from the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) and Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE). The agenda of the seminar was the Evacuated Tube Transport (ETT), which operates by creating space like travel conditions on the ground. Air is permanently removed from the tubes along the travel route making the travel free from air resistance.  Pressurized passenger capsules of size of a six-person biz jet cabin travel in the tubes on nearly frictionless magnetic levitation tracks. The experience will be like travelling in a silent aircraft in a semi reclined position and will be smoother than any luxury car or airplane without any chaotic traffic conditions 6 miles above the ground.

According to Shen Zhiyun, academic member of CAS and CAE, China should target the development of high-speed ground transportation with 600 to 1,000 kilometers per hour which should be in operation between 2020 and 2030. This concept was first proposed by experts from American Land Consulting and Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was introduced by Zhang Yaoping, who graduated from Southwest Jiao tong University in Sichuan. He then began to promote the ETT as an “evolutionary transportation” in 2007. Zhang believes the theoretical limit of the speed of the evacuated tube maglev train is close to the first cosmic speed and can reach up to 20,000 kilometers per hour.

The proposed maglev line between Baltimore and Washington is estimated to cost around $5.8 billion and would shorten the 40 mile journey to 18 minutes. According to a group promoting the project with the backing of the Maryland Department of Transportation, the line would be eventually extended to New York and Boston.  Masayuki Kubota of Daiwa SB Investments Ltd. said that it was really significant that the U.S. Transport Secretary came to Japan and rode the maglev. This would prove to be a big step forward in getting contracts.

The Japanese Government has guaranteed its support to JR Central’s bid to build the Washington Baltimore line which might also include loans from a state owned bank. Japan’s support for maglev sales is a part of the government’s initiative to help Japanese train manufacturers to compete with Germany’s Siemens AG, France’s Alstom SA, Bombardier Inc. of Canada and China South Locomotive & Rolling Stock Corp.

A mere 5 min stop per station (elderly passengers cannot be hurried) will result in a  total loss of 5 min x 30 stations or 2.5 hours of train journey time!

1. For those who are boarding the train : The passengers at a station embarks onto to a connector cabin way before the train even arrives at the station. When the train arrives, it will not stop at all. It just slows down to pick up the connector cabin which will move with the train on the roof  of the train.While the train is still moving away from the station, those passengers will board the train from the connector cabin mounted on the train’s roof. After fully unloading all its passengers, the cabin connector cabin will be moved to the back of the train so that the next batch of outgoing passengers who want to alight at the next station will board the connector cabin at the rear of the train roof.
2. For those who are getting off: As stated after fully unloading all its passengers, the cabin connector cabin will be moved to the back of the train so that the next batch of outgoing passengers who want to alight at the next station will board the connector cabin at the rear of the train roof. When the train arrives at the next station, it will simply drop the whole connector cabin at the station itself and leave it behind at the station. The outgoing passengers can take their own time to disembark at the station while the train had already left. At the same time, the train will pick up the incoming embarking passengers on another connector cabin in the front part of the train’s roof. So the train will always drop one connector cabin at the rear of its roof and pick up a new connector cabin in the front part of the train’s roof at each station.

Mayor Ron Littlefield said on Friday that the time has come for the Georgia counties who had pledged money to buck up. It is the need of the hour to arrange for the finances now. Several counties along the Interstate 75 had committed to contribute $ 3.9 million as a match for a $13.8 million federal transportation grant about a year and a half ago. The grant was supposed to fund the environmental study on proposed Maglev or other high speed routes from the Atlanta Airport to the Chattanooga Airport.

However several counties have not paid the money and it is highly unlikely for them to do so this year. Mike Babb, chairman of the Whitfield County Commission said that it is difficult for counties to come up with this kind of amounts in the current economy. Whitfield County had pledged $349,000. Also an amount of $1.3 million was requested from Atlanta, Georgia and Tennessee. A group of elected and transportation officials met on Friday morning at Chattanooga City Hall to discuss how they can get funding from all the entities that pledged money. But the conclusions did not seem very promising.

Urgent actions are needed as the money is required to help complete the study for the Maglev to be in contention for $2.5 billion that the federal government plans to spend on high-speed rail next spring.

The maglev train contains materials that are used on airplanes and is the fastest mode of ground transportation in the world. Earlier China used to import maglev technology from developed countries. But after years of research and development, the country has now mastered the complete range of production from building the rails to developing the control system. Currently China only imports some parts from Germany and the design and manufacturing are totally home grown.

China’s first maglev line officially opened at the end of 2002 in Shanghai. The trains were imported from Germany. 23 million passengers in all have commuted on this route since its introduction. It travels at a speed of 430 kilometers an hour.

Hangzhou city by hazenet @ Deviantart

The proposed maglev line will be 200 km long approximately and will cost 22 billion Yuan (US $ 3.22 billion). The travel time between Shanghai and Hangzhou will be shortened to half an hour which is currently 2 to 2.5 hours. China already has a fully functional 32 km maglev line which connects Shanghai’s Pudong New Area with Shanghai Pudong International Airport.

This was included in the jobs bill presented to President Obama telling that this step is to put the struggling work force to work immediately and to widen the highway, easing the traffic congestion.

However Governor Jim Gibbons, chairman of the State Transportation Department and maglev supporter has strongly opposed Reid’s idea to redirect the funding. But the State transportation department officials said they did not specifically request money to be diverted from the maglev project, but were happy that the funds would go to a road project.

As a big supporter of state of the art technology, China is making quick work to improve the existing transport infrastructure. The proposed new Maglev route will run between Shanghai and Hangzhou on tracks using the German magnetic levitation technology. In 2006, Germany and China reached an agreement for this technology transfer, and this normal-conducting Maglev system was already used earlier with success for Shanghai’s  Pudong Airport line.

Hangzhou

The new Maglev line will cover 165 km and connect Shanghai, China’s largest center of commerce and finance with Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province; bringing the total of the Maglev trajectory to a stunning 194.5 km. It’s the first time that the Maglev technology will be used over such an important distance.

• Construction: 2010 – 2014
• Investment: CN¥22 billion or $3.22 billion
• Total Length: 199.484 km
• Shanghai-Hangzhou Intercity: 164.577 km
• Airport Branch: 34.857 km
• Length in Zhejiang Province: 103.553 km (Stations: Jiaxing, Hangzhou East)

Shanghai