Impact
Maglevs have without a doubt revolutionized the world of transportation. Their ability to travel at such high speeds allows for the possibility of linking cities (as far as 1600km) together. (The Japanese maglev holds the record of fastest train in the world at a speed of 581km/h (JRCentral.com, 2004))
Dangers Of Maglevs: No technology is perfect. On September 22, 2006 twenty-three people were killed and ten people were injured when a maglev train (German test track) collided with a maintenance wagon that was left on the guideway (The Guardian, 2006). The train (Transrapid) was going about 193km/h when it crashed head on with the wagon, a spokesperson for IABG said that the accident was a human error, not a mechanical problem with the train (The Guardian, 2006).
Commercial Use
Shanghai is home of the only commercially running maglev train (Shanghai Maglev, 2005). The guideway extends over 30km linking Pudong International aiport to Longyang road subway, a journey (shown on the map below) that usually takes an hour can now be done in just under 8 minutes (7min 20 sec) (Shanghai Maglev, 2005).
Short Timeline:
- August 2000: 3 billion RMB or $544.1 millon (Xe Currency Converter, 2008) invested in the construction of the maglev train (Shanghai Maglev, 2005).
- 2001: Construction starts (Shanghai Maglev, 2005).
- December 31, 2002: A ceremony was held for the inauguration of the maglev train, both the German chancellor and the Chinese Premier were present at Longyang station to cut the ribbon (Shanghai Maglev, 2005).
- October 11, 2003: Passengers finally boarded (Shanghai Maglev, 2005)!
Hours Of Operation: 6:45-21:40 daily (intervals of 15 minutes).
Ticket Information: Tickets are sold at the station.
| Single Trip | 50 Yuan (Shanghai Maglev, 2005) | $9.07 (Xe Currency Converter, 2008) |
| Round Trip | 80 Yuan (Shanghai Maglev, 2005) | $14.52 (Xe Currency Converter, 2008) |
| VIP Single Trip | 100 Yuan (Shanghai Maglev, 2005) | $18.15 (Xe Currency Converter, 2008) |
| VIP Round Trip | 160 Yuan (Shanghai Maglev, 2005) | $29.04 (Xe Currency Converter, 2008) |
| 10 Single Trips | 400 Yuan (Shanghai Maglev, 2005) | $72.60 (Xe Currency Converter, 2008) |
| 20 Single Trips | 700 Yuan (Shanghai Maglev, 2005) | $127.05 (Xe Currency Converter, 2008) |
| 30 Single Trips | 900 Yuan (Shanghai Maglev, 2005) | $163.32 (Xe Currency Converter, 2008) |
Note: Children under 120cm ride for free (Shanghai Maglev, 2005).
Interesting Facts: On March 3, 2003 the title crowning name was auctioned off to the world (Shanghai Maglev, 2005). A Shanghai Property development bought it for 20.9 million RMB (for a time period of just 2 years) (Shanghai Maglev, 2005). One train was named Xiu Hu Pearl train (Shanghai Maglev, 2005).
Extension?: Plans to extend the guideway to Hangzhou were put on hold after a fire broke out in one of the sections of the train (Shanghai Maglev, 2005). An evacuation was put into effect, luckily no injuries or fatalities were reported (Shanghai Maglev, 2005).
Protests were also a major factor in the delay of the extension (Chan, Royston, Taylor, Sophie, 2008). People living close by expressed their concern for noise pollution as well as their fear of magnetic radiation (Chan, Royston, Taylor, Sophie, 2008). Construction is scheduled to start in 2010, it is unclear why they are going ahead amid the concerns of radiation (Chan, Royston, Taylor, Sophie, 2008). The project is estimated to cost $3.14 billion (Chan, Royston, Taylor, Sophie, 2008).
