Will Maglev Ever Become a Prevalent Mode of Transportation?
Will Maglev Ever Become a Prevalent Mode of Transportation?
By Sophia Kaisermann
Everyone has pet-peeves. One of the most annoying pet-peeves of all is being late. Whether one is late to work, school, a flight, no one likes being late. One of the most likely causes of being late is traffic. Many people prefer taking public modes transportation such as a bus or train so that they have a smaller chance of being late. Many small towns connect to big cities by train, an example being Wayne and Philadelphia. However, trains can also be very slow. In fact, it is faster to get to Philadelphia from Wayne by car (which takes around 30 minuets) than by train (which takes around an hour.) Engineers and scientists have developed a very creative way to travel places that is faster, cheaper, and Eco-friendly. A train that works with magnetic levitation.
Trains that work with magnetic levitation are called Maglev. These trains were first conceived in the early 1900's by Robert Goddard and Emile Bachelet, and have been used since 1984. Maglev trains are used in some parts of the world today such as Japan and China, with many plans for other tracks in the future. A system built in 2005 for the World's Fair is currently in operation in Aichi, Japan, and it travels a distance of 5.6 miles at 62 miles per hour. The longest Maglev track is located in Shanghai. The track covers about 18.6 miles and connects downtown Shanghai to the Pudong International Airport. There are no operating Maglev systems in the US, but there are several prototypes and some under construction.
The concept of Maglev is very simple to understand. Magnets have two poles, North and South. Opposite poles attract, which is how a magnet sticks to a magnetic surface. However, when putting two magnets of the same pole together, they will repel. The idea is that if the bottom of the train is made with the same type of magnet as the tracks, the train will levitate. One major difference between Maglev and conventional trains is the absence of friction. Friction is a force that opposes motion which makes the conventional train have to work harder than Maglev to reach a certain speed. Although Maglev must overcome air-resistance, the nonexistence of friction allows the train to reach higher speeds. In fact, present Maglev technology has produced trains that travel at 310 miles per hour.
Maglev had many advantages. As stated by Patrick Kingsland from Railway Technology,
"The benefits of Maglev are hard to contest.(...) Preventing interaction between wheels and rail also means less noise, vibration and mechanical failure, and fewer problems in the event of bad weather." All of these pros that Kingsland noted are associated with money. Maglev trains are much cheaper to maintain and operate than conventional trains. Another advantage is that Maglev produces no air pollution. The train does not burn any fuels while operating and the nonappearance of friction makes the train very quite causing no noise pollution.
The question is: Will Maglev ever become a prevalent mode of transportation? I believe that Maglev is an amazing idea that helps the environment and would help people trying to get from point A to point B. However, with all the advantages comes some disadvantages. The cost to maintain a Maglev system is less than a conventional railroad, but building a Maglev is a major challenge. Not only would the construction be expensive but replacing rail tracks with Maglev as well. According to NBC News, when the Chinese government was planning a second Maglev system for Shanghai in 2006, the cost was $4.4 Billion. Another factor is the constant improvement of science and technology. The concept of Maglev has been around for years and modern science and technology is developing other high-tech ideas such as the Hyperloop. The Hyperloop is an even more efficient mode of transportation that can reach speeds of 700 miles per hour.
Therefore, I believe that Maglev will not become the most mainstream mode of transportation. However, that doesn't mean that it won't be used. An idea is having Maglev as local transportation. Laurence Blow, founder of the MaglevTransport consulting group, believes that the best assist of Maglev lies in “connecting cities”, but he doubts the technology will become widespread in the near future.
External Links:
https://science.howstuffworks.com/maglev
https://youtu.be/maglevvideo
https://www.britannica.com/technology/maglev-train
https://www.railway-technology.com/will-maglev-ever-become-mainstream/
http://www.nbcnews.com/maglev-trains-offer-high-speed-big-cost/
For more about helping the environment with transportation:
https://gateways19.blogspot.com/2018/how-electric-cars-are-taking-over-roads.html
By Sophia Kaisermann
Everyone has pet-peeves. One of the most annoying pet-peeves of all is being late. Whether one is late to work, school, a flight, no one likes being late. One of the most likely causes of being late is traffic. Many people prefer taking public modes transportation such as a bus or train so that they have a smaller chance of being late. Many small towns connect to big cities by train, an example being Wayne and Philadelphia. However, trains can also be very slow. In fact, it is faster to get to Philadelphia from Wayne by car (which takes around 30 minuets) than by train (which takes around an hour.) Engineers and scientists have developed a very creative way to travel places that is faster, cheaper, and Eco-friendly. A train that works with magnetic levitation.
Trains that work with magnetic levitation are called Maglev. These trains were first conceived in the early 1900's by Robert Goddard and Emile Bachelet, and have been used since 1984. Maglev trains are used in some parts of the world today such as Japan and China, with many plans for other tracks in the future. A system built in 2005 for the World's Fair is currently in operation in Aichi, Japan, and it travels a distance of 5.6 miles at 62 miles per hour. The longest Maglev track is located in Shanghai. The track covers about 18.6 miles and connects downtown Shanghai to the Pudong International Airport. There are no operating Maglev systems in the US, but there are several prototypes and some under construction. 
Maglev had many advantages. As stated by Patrick Kingsland from Railway Technology,
"The benefits of Maglev are hard to contest.(...) Preventing interaction between wheels and rail also means less noise, vibration and mechanical failure, and fewer problems in the event of bad weather." All of these pros that Kingsland noted are associated with money. Maglev trains are much cheaper to maintain and operate than conventional trains. Another advantage is that Maglev produces no air pollution. The train does not burn any fuels while operating and the nonappearance of friction makes the train very quite causing no noise pollution.
The question is: Will Maglev ever become a prevalent mode of transportation? I believe that Maglev is an amazing idea that helps the environment and would help people trying to get from point A to point B. However, with all the advantages comes some disadvantages. The cost to maintain a Maglev system is less than a conventional railroad, but building a Maglev is a major challenge. Not only would the construction be expensive but replacing rail tracks with Maglev as well. According to NBC News, when the Chinese government was planning a second Maglev system for Shanghai in 2006, the cost was $4.4 Billion. Another factor is the constant improvement of science and technology. The concept of Maglev has been around for years and modern science and technology is developing other high-tech ideas such as the Hyperloop. The Hyperloop is an even more efficient mode of transportation that can reach speeds of 700 miles per hour.
Therefore, I believe that Maglev will not become the most mainstream mode of transportation. However, that doesn't mean that it won't be used. An idea is having Maglev as local transportation. Laurence Blow, founder of the MaglevTransport consulting group, believes that the best assist of Maglev lies in “connecting cities”, but he doubts the technology will become widespread in the near future.
External Links:
https://science.howstuffworks.com/maglev
https://youtu.be/maglevvideo
https://www.britannica.com/technology/maglev-train
https://www.railway-technology.com/will-maglev-ever-become-mainstream/
http://www.nbcnews.com/maglev-trains-offer-high-speed-big-cost/
For more about helping the environment with transportation:
https://gateways19.blogspot.com/2018/how-electric-cars-are-taking-over-roads.html
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