maglev

The fastest high-speed train travels at a speed of 267mph and it’s the only one of its kind in the world. Recently, one woman decided to ride it just to see how rapid it was

The world’s fastest train is no joke as it travels at a top speed of 267mph (430km/h). It’s the world’s only high-speed commercial maglev line which runs between a city to the airport. Now one woman decided to board the rapid train – and was left amazed.

TikTok user Silvana, who boasts over 1,400 followers, had been travelling across China and during her 10-hour layover in Shanghai was able to hop on the train. Her caption read: “Took the world’s fastest train during my 10hr layover in Shanghai! This is the Maglev train in Shanghai China which stands for Mag (magnetic) & lev (levitation). It hovers above the train tracks and it can go up to 431 km/hr.”

This magnetic levitation (maglev) allows the train to “fly” above the tracks, resulting in a smooth, friction-free ride. It connects Shanghai’s Pudong airport to the city centre.

Silvana continued: “I wanted to explore Shanghai City for a bit and this seemed to be the fastest way to get there from the airport haha.

“It cost me 80 Yuan / €10,50 for a return ticket and it got me to Long Yang Rd. Station in under 8 minutes.

“From here I just took another metro ride for only 4 Yuan / €0,50 and I was right in the centre of Shanghai City!

“Such a crazy experience.”

Though it can reach a top speed of 267mph (430km/h), its current commercial operating speed is actually 186mph (300km/h).

The 30 km line, utilising German Transrapid technology, opened in 2006, offering a fast and efficient, albeit costly, airport transfer.

Silvana, who calls herself a backpacker on her TikTok, was currently travelling across Asia when she decided to take the train.

Since she shared it, one of her followers was left starstruck by her experience as the post scooped up dozens of likes and comments.

Meanwhile, one user kicked off a Reddit thread by asking people who have travelled on the world’s fastest train.

One said: “Incredibly smooth. Imagine flying but with no turbulence.

“Shame it’s basically a glorified gadget bahn with less riders than the actual metro lines to the airport.

“I can’t say it’s that much of an improvement over regular high speed rail though.”

Another added: “I was just there for the first time last month. It’s super smooth! You can feel a bit of tilt on the curves, in a fun way. Otherwise it felt similar to conventional HSR.”

Aug. 1 (UPI) — U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced Friday that the Federal Railroad Administration will cancel two grants totaling more than $26 million for the Baltimore-Washington maglev project.

The department’s press release about the Superconducting Magnetic Levitation Project said it has seen “nearly a decade of poor planning, significant community opposition, tremendous cost overruns, and nothing to show for it.”

The release called the project a “boondoggle.”

As part of its analysis, the FRA also determined the project would result in “significant, unresolvable impacts to federal agencies and federal property, including national security agencies,” the release said.

“We want big, beautiful projects worthy of taxpayer dollars — including high-speed rail. This project lacked everything needed to be a success from planning to execution. This project did not have the means to go the distance, and I can’t in good conscience keep taxpayers on the hook for it,” Duffy said in a statement. “We’ll continue to look for exciting opportunities to fund the future of transportation and encourage innovation.”

The Northeast Maglev would eventually connect Washington, D.C., and New York City. The train would be able travel at speeds of more than 300 mph to make the trip one hour long.

Maglev is a system of rail transport whose rolling stock is levitated by electromagnets rather than rolled on wheels, eliminating rolling resistance.

Compared with conventional railways, maglev trains have higher top speeds, superior acceleration and deceleration, lower maintenance costs, improved gradient handling, and lower noise. But they are more expensive to build, cannot use existing infrastructure, and use more energy at high speeds.

Indirect effects of this project also would impair critical infrastructure and ongoing agency missions, the release said. Government agencies harmed by this project would have included: the National Security Agency, U.S. Department of Defense and Fort George G. Meade, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, U.S Department of Agriculture, U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Department of Interior — Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service, and the U.S. Department of Labor.

In 2015, the federal government gave Maryland a grant of $27.8 million to study a high-speed maglev train line that could connect Baltimore and Washington, D.C., in 15 minutes. Duffy is now canceling that grant. The funding for such a grant was authorized in 2005, when Congress set aside $90 million for maglev projects.

In 2021, China unveiled a maglev train that it said can travel 373 mph. In July 2020, the government said it planned to build a network with as many as nine maglev lines that include 620 miles of track.