MAGLEV TRAINS AS ALTERNATIVE TRANSPORTATION

BACKGROUND

Alternative fuel is a principle that relies on using any type of fuel, other than petroleum, to power equipment. Although there are currently many alternative fuels available, I would like to discuss the MagLev (magnetic levitation) train as a source of alternative fuel. This is a transit system that could drastically reduce our energy needs but it also a system that would require drastic changes and measures to become a reality in the United States.

Magnetic levitation operates on a Physics principle that two objects can be suspended from one another by magnetic fields. This principle applies so perfectly to trains because the main constraint for the speed at which trains can travel is the friction and vibration caused by the train wheels on the train tracks. With the MagLev train the wheels, friction, and vibrations are all taken out of the equation, leaving essentially only air resistance as a constraint to the train’s speed of operation.

MagLev trains can travel at about 300 miles per hour. The MagLev is a system that many European countries don’t see as a viable method of transportation to replace the extensive rail networks currently in place. Their use of conventional trains is currently so strong that replacing all conventional lines with MagLev tracks is not appealing at all. In the U.S. on the other hand we don’t have such an extensive rail network, I am talking railways like you see highways, as Europe does. It would almost make sense for us to be the country leading the way in commercial MagLev operation. Japan and Germany seems to be leading the way in not only the research of these trains but also the push for commercial use. There is about 25 percent of railway in Germany that uses the MagLev trains and there are two MagLev lines in Japan.

It should be understood that a MagLev transportation system is not a replacement transportation method, but instead an additional option to existing transit. If a MagLev system were to be considered in the U.S. to replace transit between say the two Coasts what would the ramifications be? How much fuel consumption would be reduced by reducing airline take offs and cross-country flights. I mention this because most fuel consumed during a average flight is consumed at take off and since cross country flights needs so much fuel to complete the trip the plane is much heavier and uses much more fuel on take off. Would it be better to have more short distance flights instead of long cross country flights that burn large quantities of petroleum? The answer is no, they are instead operated by a combination of electricity and rotation of the superconducting devices levitating the train. What if a MagLev system is used to alleviate the congestion of cross country flights? For the already crippled airline companies this idea probably does not sound good at all but how does it sound for long-term environmental ramifications?

Such talks are already taking place in the United States, which is very exiting because so many doors are being opened for scientific advancements. Scientist and engineers usually just needs a challenge to get to work, and we have our challenge! Headlines such as: “Train would link Ohio cities, Planners project $3.2 billion high-speed line”, should be expected more often within our lifetimes. It is truly exiting times for innovation and new ideas spurred by our challenge to meet energy needs and conserve our resources for future generations.

CONCLUSION

These ideas are much closer than most may think. Skyrocketing gasoline prices and shifting public attitudes about mass transit are giving the MagLev “revolution” a whole new foundation to stand on. Science and engineering is not what is currently holding MagLev systems away in our country, we are standing ready. The many aspects of finances and politics, public interest and approval and special interest groups play a huge roll in the decisions being made. You think a MagLev runs on petroleum? You think the airlines would be hurt by such a system of transportation? Do you think the voters want to invest in such a “pie in the sky” idea? It was said by the first airplanes that they would have minor impact on our future and society. It was thought that airplanes would be used for recreational purposes only. With the push of a few brave souls the world was transformed! MagLev trains are a reality and can be that transformation of our time, the one that will impact our future and economy in the very same way that airplanes did from the 1950’s on.