I filed this under “Continuity” because the SCMaglev in Japan has been under development since 1972. The Yamanashi maglev test line shown in the video began construction in 1990 and opened for test operations in 1997. With an extension added in 2011, it is now 42.8 km in length. On 2015-04-21 a seven car train reached a speed of 603 km/hour, setting a new land speed record for rail vehicles. The train regularly offers rides to the public at its planned operational speed of 500 km/hour.
What’s that in intelligible units?
500 km/hour = 2.929792 astronomicalunit/century
So Japan is still messing about in pre-commercial mode – while China has already been running a routine commercial maglev service between Shangahi and its airport for several years. But at least both of them have managed to run high speed rail for many years – a feat which eludes the Big Brains who rule the US.
Draw your own conclusions about where the future is likely to lead.
Curiously, the Shanghai maglev operates only on the 30 km route between the airport and city of Pudong. The Japanese test track is 42.8 km in length, 43% longer than the operational Chinese route. The Shanghai train has a cruising speed of 431 km/hour, but takes 4 minutes to reach that speed, at which point it immediately starts decelerating, with the entire trip taking 7 minutes and 20 seconds.
A 600 km/hour train, the CRRC Maglev, is under development, but at present there is no test track that allows it to reach full speed. The train is expected to enter service in 2025.
I knew you wouldn’t disappoint!
You might wonder (I certainly did) whether it’s possible for a maglev train to switch tracks and, if so how. The magnetic field that levitates the train and confines it to the U-shaped guideway obviously has to be maintained all the way through the switch, which is bound to be more complicated than just keeping wheels on a track. Here is video of a switch on the Shanghai maglev in operation.
This article, “Changing tracks on the Shanghai Maglev”, has more information, photos, and videos showing the track layout and switching of the system.
Wow. Magnetized rubber track!