The ride on the fastest moving object on the surface of the earth The commercial high-speed magnetic levitation train with a top speed of 431 KMPH covering a distance of 30.5 KM in little over 7 minutes. In the Video – note the crossing of both the trains that passes in a flash at the 4th minute 28th second with a combined speed of both trains is near 800 KMPH ! I travelled umpteen times on this amazing train and the video covers the whole 7+ minute journey!

EXPERIENCE & ENJOY THE SHANGHAI MAGLEV

TOTAL JOURNEY ON THE WORLD´s FASTEST RUNNING TRAIN @ 431 KMPH

KNOWLEDGE & LEARNING ABOUT THE SHANGHAI MAGLEV

WHICH / WHAT IS THE WORLD´´s FASTEST RUNNING TRAIN ?

WHAT IS THE SHANGHAI MAGLEV ?

• The Shanghai maglev train or Shanghai Transrapid (Chinese : 上海磁浮示范运营线) is a magnetic levitation train (maglev) line that operates in Shanghai
• The line is the third commercially operated maglev line in history (after the British Birmingham Maglev and the German M-Bahn), the oldest commercial maglev still in operation, and the first commercial high-speed maglev with cruising speed of 431 km/h (268 mph)
• It is also the fastest commercial running electric train in operation in the world
• The train line connects Shanghai Pudong International Airport and Longyang Road Station (in the outskirts of central Pudong), where passengers can interchange to the Shanghai Metro to continue their trip to the city center
• The line is not part of the Shanghai Metro network, which operates its own service to Pudong Airport from central Shanghai and Longyang Road Station

DESCRIBE THE SHANGHAI MAGLEV

• The line runs from Longyang Road station in Pudong to Pudong International Airport
• The Pudong International Airport station provides a transfer to Line 2, but the Longyang Road station provides access to Line 2, Line 7 and Line 16
• At full speed, the journey takes 7 minutes and 20 seconds to complete the distance of 30 km (18.6 mi) although some trains in the early morning and late afternoon take about 50 seconds longer
• A train can reach 350 km/h (217 mph) in 2 minutes, with the maximum normal operation speed of 431 km/h (268 mph) reached thereafter

HISTORY, DEVELOPMENT & OPERATION OF THE SHANGHAI MAGLEV

• The train set(rake)model (SMT Transrapid) was built by a joint venture of Siemens and ThyssenKrupp from Kassel, Germany and based on years of tests and improvements of their Transrapid maglev monorail
• The Shanghai Maglev track (guideway) was built by local Chinese companies who, as a result of the alluvial soil conditions of the Pudong area, had to deviate from the original track design of one supporting column every 50 metres to one column every 25 meters, to ensure that the guideway meets the stability and precision criteria
• Several thousand concrete piles were driven to depths up to 70 metres to attain stability for the support column foundations
• A mile-long, climate-controlled facility was built alongside the line’s right of way to manufacture the guideways
• The train was manufactured in Germany by Siemens-Thyssenkrupp JV(Joint venture)
• The electrification of the train was developed by Vahle, Inc.
• Two commercial maglev systems predated the Shanghai system : the Birmingham Maglev in the United Kingdom and the Berlin M-Bahn. Both were low-speed operations and closed before the opening of the Shanghai maglev train
• The train was inaugurated in 2002 by the German chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, and the Chinese premier, Zhu Rongji
• The ratio of costs were given as : 64%-energy, 19%-maintenance & 17%-operations/support services
• The high proportion of energy costs was attributed to the short trip time and high operating speed
• The Shanghai Transrapid project took ¥10 billion (US$1.33bn) and two and a half years to complete
• It cost $39.759 million per kilometer to build
• The line is 30.5 km (18.95 mi) track and has a further separate track leading to a maintenance facility