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Why are maglev trains still rare? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 1 year ago by frightful_hobgoblin@lemmy.ml to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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They were invented decades ago.

They have fewer moving parts than wheelbois.

They require less maintenance.

There's obviously some bottleneck in expanding maglev technology, but what is it?

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[–] frightful_hobgoblin@lemmy.ml 12 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Is the claim about "10-20 times the cost" true? The internet says Shanghai maglev cost $1.33 billion for 30.5 km, i.e. less than $44 million/km. Compare https://transitcosts.com/new-data/ or https://transitcosts.com/high-speed-rail-preliminary-data-analysis/

Secondly, if it is true, why would it be true? Why would it be more expensive to build something with fewer moving parts?

Supersonic passeenger jets require more energy. Maglev trains require less energy.

[–] FiskFisk33@lemmy.one 14 points 1 year ago

all the other complex and important factors aside, air restistance is a formula of speed squared. Meaning for example if you bump speed up by 40% you double air resistance, and therefore double the energy cost of transport.

[–] JillyB 6 points 1 year ago

Japan is in the late stages of developing a maglev section of the Shinkansen. It has liquid helium cooling for semiconductors and lots of considerations to make sure the cabin and surroundings aren't exposed to very strong magnetic fields. It's just more expensive to do all that.

After Japan rolls this out and works out the kinks, it might get cheaper since a lot of they've done a lot of the development.