The document discusses the history and engineering of maglev trains. It explains that maglev trains are propelled by magnetic levitation and do not have conventional engines. Maglev trains have lower operating costs than airplanes or trucks. However, existing maglev lines like the Shanghai maglev have not been profitable due to lack of infrastructure and high construction costs. While maglev trains show potential, uncertainties around costs remain a challenge for their widespread adoption.

1. Straight out of Science
Fiction: The Maglev
Technology at the present
“In What Ways can maglev lead the
way for the research in
electromagnetic fields and waves into
commercial use”
BY RAKHA ARUNA DEWA
May 2022
Science MYP 9

2. Human civilization has been fundamentally
altered by the evolution of mass
transportation. The train has evolved from its
humble beginnings in the early nineteenth
century to a high-tech marvel capable of
speeds in excess of 360 mph or 580 kmh.
Emile Bachelet, a French-born American
engineer, was the first to file patents for
magnetic levitation (maglev) technologies in
the early 1910s. Even earlier, in 1904 [source:
Witschge], American professor and inventor
Robert Goddard published a paper outlining
the concept of maglev levitation.
It wasn't long before engineers began
designing train systems based on this future
vision. They anticipated that passengers
would soon board magnetically propelled cars
and zip from place to place at high speeds,
without many of the maintenance and safety
concerns associated with traditional railroads.
History of
the maglev
ORIGINS PAGE 1
The world’s first purely maglev
train system, which was for public
use was opened in May 1984.
Providing origin/destination
transportation service. It was a
slow shuttle that went from
Birmingham International
Airport's terminal to the
neighboring train station.
The Shanghai maglev line,
which connects Shanghai
Pudong International Airport
with the outskirts of central
Shanghai, is now the most
well-known commercial high-
speed maglev line.
Maglev Trains

3. PAGE 2 ENGINEERING
A few countries in the twenty-first century are
developing high-speed trains called maglev trains
using powerful electromagnets. Magnetic
levitation is classified into two types:
electromagnetic suspension (EMS) and
electrodynamic suspension (EDS) (EDS).
Superconducting magnets on both the track and
the railcar produce opposing magnetic fields,
which repel each other and suspend the railcar.
The attraction of electromagnets beneath The rail
keeps the train elevated above the track in
electromagnetic suspenail cars are suspended on
a magnetic cushion about a half-inch above the
tracks in each case.
This Electromagnetic fields was tested by my own
experiment, in seeing the electromagnetic fields
visually by putting a magnet inside a glass tube
and using magnets from the walls to simulate an
electromagnetic in a maglev. This was backed up
by The primary distinction between a maglev train
and a conventional train is that maglev trains lack
an engine, at least not the type of engine used to
pull conventional train cars along steel tracks. The
engines for maglev trains is rather unobtrusive.
Instead of using fossil fuels, the train is propelled
by the magnetic field created by the electrified
coils in the guideway walls and track.
Another significant difference between
conventional and maglev trains, is that the power
guideway drives maglev trains. Jesse Powel a
maglev expert quoted “With maglev, there is no
driver. The vehicle has to move where the
network sends them. Thats basic physics” this
means that it has a very significant safety benefit
compare to conventional trains. Any trains
moving in the same route cannot catch up or crash
to each other because both are being powered to
move at the same speed.
How the
maglev
works

4. AFFECT PAGE 3
Impact of the Maglev trains
The Maglev is also very cheap and efficient
compared to conventional trains. According to
a study by Stathis Ilondis, Stanford University
Fall of 2010; Operating expenses for Maglev
will be 3 cents per passenger mile and 7 cents
per tonne mile, compared to 15 cents per
passenger mile for airlines and 30 cents per
tonne mile for intercity trucks. Because there is
no mechanical contact and wear, guideways
can survive for at least 50 years with minimum
maintenance. At 480 kilometres per hour,
maglev uses 0.4 megajoules per passenger mile,
compared to 4 megajoules per passenger mile
for an 8.5-kilometer-per-liter (20-mile-per-
gallon) automobile carrying 1.8 passengers at
96 kilometres per hour. It's also worth
comparing the efficiency of maglev trains to
that of regular high-speed trains. The energy
consumption of the German high-speed maglev
Transrapid and the German high-speed maglev
Transrapid is shown in Table 1.
Maglev, if it is implemented, will have enormous
environmental, safety, and economic benefits. It can
greatly reduce pollution and carbon dioxide
emissions, provide greater and safer mobility at a
lower cost; and reduce dependence on foreign oil. If
we are to improve our environment and living
standards, we must bring forward new technologies
to solve our crisis problems. JAMES R. POWELL
GORDON T. DANBY Shoreham, L.I., Dec. 12, 1990.
The writers are with Brookhaven National
Laboratory as, respectively, head of the reaction
systems division and a senior physicist. Although the
maglev train has numerous benefits, it also has
drawbacks. The Shanghai maglev transportation
company, for example, loses 500-700 million Yuan
each year and hasn't made a profit since its
inception. This equates to between 74 and 100
million dollars. Not only that, but according to
Chinese media estimates, the current cost of a track
is 310 million yuan, or $34 million per kilometre.
This indicates that there is a lack of public interest,
but it does not imply that there is a lack of demand
for people to use trains as a mode of transportation.
Another major problem is the absence of primary
infrastructure, because a maglev train differs from a
regular train in that it is unable to travel beyond its
initial destination (which means it cannot service
surrounding cities within its original destination). So
this may hinder its usefulness.

5. The Maglev trains shows us that the limits for innovations
and curiosity is unimaginable, it was a marvel for physics
and magnets. It has potential to becoming a major
transportation, the Shangai Maglev train transportation
proved that a viable commercial high speed maglev
transportation is a reality. But due to the lack of
infrastructure and cost it is still uncertain for the future of
Maglev transportation.
Conclusion
CLOSING PAGE 4

6. PAGE 5
Refrences:
{1} Bonsor, K., & Chandler, N. (2020, June 30). How maglev trains work.
HowStuffWorks Science. Retrieved May 31, 2022, from
https://science.howstuffworks.com/transport/engines-equipment/maglev-train.htm
[2] Maglev trains – 1984. MagLab. (n.d.). Retrieved May 31, 2022, from
https://nationalmaglab.org/education/magnet-academy/history-of-electricity-
magnetism/museum/maglev-trains-1
[3] Marjorie, & Young, J. (1990, December 26). Magnetic trains offer
environmental benefits. The New York Times. Retrieved May 31, 2022, from
https://www.nytimes.com/1990/12/26/opinion/l-magnetic-trains-offer-
environmental-benefits-
462090.html#:~:text=Maglev%2C%20if%20it%20is%20implemented,reduce%20d
ependence%20on%20foreign%20oil.
[4] City characteristics. Shanghai. (n.d.). Retrieved May 31, 2022, from
https://inquiryshanghai.weebly.com/city-characteristics.html
[5] University of Cambridge International Examinations Cambridge ... (2012, June
0). Retrieved May 31, 2022, from
https://www.cambridgeinternational.org/images/156337-june-2012-pre-released-
material-2.pdf
[6] Whyte, C. (2016, June 14). How maglev works. Energy.gov. Retrieved May
31, 2022, from https://www.energy.gov/articles/how-maglev-works
[7] Ilondis, S. (2010). Maglev energy budget. Retrieved May 31, 2022, from
http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2010/ph240/ilonidis2/#:~:text=Maglev%20is%20
also%20a%20very,ton%20 mile%20for%20intercity%20trucks