Transrapid in Britain?

[Marcel]

I want to ride a Maglev some time. So they had better do it in The Netherlands or at the very least somewhere near my location.

Is 15 km away from the netherland border not close enough?
http://www.transrapid.de/pics/tve/anfahrt_gr.gif

[GoneWacko]

They're the testing grounds, surely it's not open for public

[Arathorn]

And they can't even get their current tracks safe, if you ask me: a huge waiste of time for what it's worth
Perhaps in a hundred years when all borders have dissapeared and man lives in peace

Positive as always eh?
A Transrapid can not derail. It's sort of folded around the track. I don't really see why borders or war in the Balkans or the Middle East should be a reason not to build something advanced in Britain.

EDIT
@GW
I believe they offer test rides. After all, letting people ride it is good pr, and if the Transrapid needs anything it's good pr.

[michael blunck]

They're the testing grounds, surely it's not open for public

"Demonstration Service

The test operation includes the opportunity of joining several passenger runs for visitors.

Prices for a visit to the TVE including Transrapid trip:
Adults: € 18,-
Children up to 6 years: free
Children 6 to 16 years: € 6,-
Schoolchildren/students/trainees over 16 years
with ID card/proof of eligibility: € 9,-

Visits to the exhibitions and the Transrapid cinema are free."

http://www.transrapid.de/en/tve/tve_besucher.html
(http://www.transrapid.de/en/index.html -> TVE -> Visitor)

---------------------------------
Edit:

There are some severe disadvantages of MagLevs, e.g. the TransRapid.

1. Its extraordinary high investment costs.

2. Its incompatibility with existing railway systems.

Everything from track to stations has to be rebuilt. In most city centers, it´ll be impossible to place extra TR stations. Instead there are plans to built TR stations outside city centers (e.g. outside Berlin (Westkreuz)) which results to longer travel times (transfer to and use of underground to city center, in the case of Berlin to Lehrter Bahnhof).

3. modern high-speed railway systems (TGV, ICE) are offering almost as high velocities for a much lesser cost.

Main disadvantage of the TR is its high energy consumption. Only to get 1 ton levitated (with zero speed!) you´ll need an energy of 1.13 kW. With that same energy, an ICE will get already to a speed of 120 km/h.

A related problem is air resistance which is growing to the second (~ v^2) and decisively depends on the cross-section resp. front surface of a vehicle. TRs would typically consist of less coaches than a TGV or ICE and consequently suffer from a higher air resistance with respect to number of passengers transported.

The reason for shorter TRs being the high currents needed to accelerate a TR. Because every TR coach implements the (linear) motor, the needed current grows with the number of coaches, i.e. to accelerate a 10-coach TR from 490 km/h to 500 km/, a power of 80 MW is needed. This would be sufficient for 8 ICEs to accelerate from 0 km/s to max speed.

In conclusion, speeds above 300 km/h lead to an under-proportional reduction of travel time and an over-proportional consumption of energy compared to conventional high-speed railways.

regards
Michael

[Born Acorn]

also forgetting it will be extremely hard getting into City Centres where everybody want to get out, of course they could try to refit current train stations, does anyone know if the Maglev track can be lowered to ground level or are there problems with gradients?

[orudge]

Schoolchildren/students/trainees over 16 years
with ID card/proof of eligibility: € 9,-

Things to do before I die: I must go on the Transrapid.

[michael blunck]

does anyone know if the Maglev track can be lowered to ground level

From the TR site:

"The Transrapid hovers over a double track guideway. It can be mounted either at-grade or elevated on slim columns and consists of individual steel or concrete beams up to 62 m in length."

http://www.transrapid.de/pics/tech/te1012d.jpg

Schoolchildren/students/trainees over 16 years
with ID card/proof of eligibility: € 9,-

Things to do before I die: I must go on the Transrapid.

It´d be cheaper in Shanghai though:

"A Maglev ticket costs 50 yuan (£3.50)."

regards
Michael

[Arathorn]

The tickets to Shanghai are a little more expensive, however.

[DaleStan]

an energy of 1.13 kW.

EBADUNITS.
The Watt is a unit of power, not of energy.

to accelerate a 10-coach TR from 490 km/h to 500 km/h, a power of 80 MW is needed.

EBADTERMINOLOGY.
It requires force to accelerate mass, not power.

speeds above 300 km/h lead to an under-proportional reduction of travel time and an over-proportional consumption of energy

Got that one right, though.

[michael blunck]

an energy of 1.13 kW.

EBADUNITS.
The Watt is a unit of power, not of energy.

Oops. I´m sorry, this should read "a power of 1.13 kW".

>> to accelerate a 10-coach TR from 490 km/h to 500 km/h, a power of 80 MW is needed.

>It requires force to accelerate mass, not power.

That´s right. Of course you´ll need power to excert force and in the given context, the power (or even the usage of energy (in units of Wh / passengers * km )) needed to get the force for acceleration would be the interesting unit in a comparison..

>> speeds above 300 km/h lead to an under-proportional reduction of travel time and an over-proportional consumption of energy

> Got that one right, though.

Thanks.

That was a seldom referenced outcome of the TR Hamburg-Berlin project. On this route, the TR would need a speed of 400 km/h to get the same travel time from city centre to city centre. Which would result in a double or even threefold energy consumption.

Many reports (not the official final report) came to the conclusion that conventional high-speed train technology would be advantageous, especially in the 300 km/h domain.

As a result, the DB cancelled the project and instead a ICE-3 line had been established.

regards
Michael

[DJC]

It would be cool if they made a maglev in the UK, but it would have to make a profit, or it will probably end up like concorde