Yesterday the first commercial maglev train was tested. It's a deal between Germany and China, in which German firms were so keen to win the contract that they roughly promised to give them the train for almost nothing if China agreed to build the rails.
The rails, you see, are special; made of earth magnets powerful enough to keep the train suspended in midair. That, in turn, allows the train to go real fast. Real real fast. As in, the successful test had it going 270 mph. It's meant to connect Shanghai to its out-of-town airport.
Even at such high speed, its journey is 19 miles long and takes 14 minutes to complete. I don't understand... shouldn't it take 4 minutes and change? If it takes long to get up to speed, can't it be out-run by more traditional and much less-expensive solutions? Can't the people of a poor country wait another 10 minutes to get to the airport?
01-01-2003, 11:47 AM
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