Does the UK need MagLev trains?

Question

at a calculated 45mins from Manch-London this would saverely increase the migratory nature of our economy and allow for ease of industry and investment. Beijing has allready piloted this technology and has had DAZZLING results.

If britain is going to remain as a financial centre we are going to need to imporve our transport.

What do you think?

Answer 1

An interesting question.  I am old enough to have heard Prof Laithwaite lecture on this topic over 40 years ago, he was then researching MagLev in the  railway works at Gorton in Manchester.  He actually specualted then about combining the MagLev techn

The MagLev technology is simple and would be justifiable on certain key routes.

Sadly, the model of a space-style train on a specific 'track' was well into testing when the-then Govt, probably Thatcher stopped the project.

There is great scope for its use on commuter routes and even short distances. I believe there is a MagLev train between Birmingham Airport and the railway station.

The downside of fast MagLev trains is how will the trainspotters see their numbers!!

When it comes to the long-term, this is probably the greenest form of mass-transit.  A bonus for us all.

I bet the cost of building MagLev lines  from London to Bristol and Plymouth pales into insignificance when compared with the investment in new motorways and expansion of major airports!

Answer 2

Re above answer, you practically can get to Manchester from London in 2 hours (its 2 hours 10 minutes) with 125 m.p.h. maximum speed

Most of the countries such as France which have a super high speed network such as their TGV running at speeds of up to 200 m.p.h. have a lot more space than we have in Britain and a smaller rail network; they have also sacrificed

many of their lesser lines to pay for the TGV network. Frequencies on non TGV lines in France are not good and many rural lines have been closed in recent years. In Britain

for the distances involved we achieve fair rather than spetacular journey times at a maximum of 125 m.p,h. Our rail network is dense and mostly very frequent  compared to almost all other countries except Germany, Holland and Swizerland.

Answer 3

MagLev would speed a lot of things up and as it is alomst a silent system, extremley green and very cost effective (once the bugs are ironed out and the infrastructure built) it will be a great system, however the inital costs may be too much for the Private TOC's, Goverment and Banking sector to pay for. Certainly if it does work it will seriously reduce the need for internal flights, car journeys and if a frieght system is built as well, the amount of lorries that could be reduced and only used for local journeys would be tremendous.

Answer 4

There was a maglev at Brimingam Internation to the airport. It operated for nearly eleven years. It pre-dated the Beijing one by 10 years but for some reason everyone seems to have forgotten it. Perhaps it's because something British is not seen as glamorous enough.

The thing was was closed in 1995 because it was unreliable, expensive to maintain and replaced by a bus.

Maglevs are a nice idea but the track and running costs would be a couple of hundred times that of conventional railways.

The energy consumption increases almost exponentially with speed. This will become a big issue at the flashy maglev speeds. Also, because you are also paying for electricity to overcome gravity (instead of using wheels) as well as propelling the train the total fuel cost is considerably higher than conventional electric trains.

This is a small fact that most reporters, who are obsessed with top speeds, seem to forget.

Sorry, at the moment they're a gimick for "national pride" (whatever that is) and to keep the mass media happy (transport journalists love 1st class travel and being feted at someone else's expense).

The infrastructure and running costs would put the Chunnel to shame.

The money would be far better spent building our own "TGV" network.

Answer 5

I think you forgot it was Professor Eric Lathiwate that invented the linear motor.Way before anyone in Beijing had seen it operate.Once again Britain invents but does not carry the technology into mass production.He was awarded a contract by NASA just before he died for a maglev track for launch assist technology.

Answer 6

no not for years as the whole track system would have to be replaced and would take years of engineering and would cause many years of disruption

Answer 7

The costs of construction are phenomenal - astronomically more than building a high speed conventional line, and, heaven knows, the cost of that is enough to make the politicians apoplectic. Furthermore, no one has ever considered building a maglev line 200 miles long, which is what you are talking about. The trains that they currently use have nothing like the capacity of the Pendolinos used on the London/Manchester service. The idea at the moment is pure sci-fi, though who knows in 50 years time (by when I'll be dead) - never say never.

Answer 8

The idea of introducing Mag Lev trains in the UK would be Brilliant......But to do so would in cure major costs.

Unlike in the countries which have introduced this type of railway, here in the UK the laws are very differ ant and while places like Germany, France or China, the governments can say right we are going to build a railway through this part of town and you house will be knocked down in six months time. in the UK the government has to go about paying everyone who homes are in the way. Also we cannot rip up the present railway infrastructure and replace it with a Mag Lev lines as this would cause to much disruption.

If only we could be like the Frence where in the last 30 years they have gone in knocked houses and parts of town so then built they could their highspeed train network from scratch.

Mind the great British Railway IS the fastest growing railway network in Europe & there are plans for HS2 (Highspeed2). The only thing stopping that at the moment is Gordon Brown & his goverment!!!

Answer 9

You make a good case, but considering the cost, are you really saving that much time in transportation of goods?  I don't see it having a big enough effect to warrant the cost.

Answer 10

Not really, They are expensive, when compared with conventional high speed rail. And you loose a lot of flexiblilty in that TGVs and similar can leave  the High Speed Lines if required and run on the Classic Routes. (An example would be with Eurostar as it approaches Paris, rather then build an expensive new line into the centre the TGVs and Eurostars join the Classic lines at reduced speed (120mph) for the last few miles into Gare Du Nord)

Answer 11

Converting the network would be extremely costly and in any case the maglev train does not have the flexibility of the conventional, 2-rail network. It is a monorail which is best suited to high-density shuttle traffic say between a city centre and airport or between two major urban centres, as a supplement to, rather than replacement for existing modes of transport.

Better to improve our existing train services by making them more frequent, better connections, more punctual and cheaper fares, better integration with local bus services and more incentives to get people to park and ride.

Answer 12

The problem with our railways is that we're not a big enough country to have long straight runs like you need for a really high speed train like a maglev. You'd either have to build over and straighten existing trackbeds or create new routes. The former would cause even more disruption than there is now and the latter would be opposed by farmers, greenies, landowners, town planners etc. and would need a lot of money for a compulsory purchase of the land needed.

If the rail companies ran the trains properly you could do London - Manchester in a couple of hours, but they're not interested in anything but money.