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From another source, on the economics of Maglev trains: https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202107/1229097.shtml https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202107/1229097.sht
by throwaway4good 5y ago
From another source, on the economics of Maglev trains:
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202107/1229097.shtml https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202107/1229097.shtml
China's speediest 600 km/h maglev rolls off assembly line in Qingdao city
...
But Zhao Jian, a professor with Beijing Jiaotong University, said that it is unlikely to export China's maglev train and relevant technologies in the near future, as other countries lack the scale to make the maglev lines profitable.
"The maglev lines can earn money only when a network of high-speed transportation is formed, with huge passenger flows," Zhao told the Global Times on Tuesday.
- throwaway4good 5y agoI think only where the population density is very high, maglev trains make economic sense: China, Japan, maybe Germany.
- iso1210 5y agoMaglev or other high speed rail (by highspeed I mean 300km-400km/h, not this 1960s stuff California is talking about) is fine for dense cities between 200 and 1000km apart where there's enough traffic to justify the line (i.e. 200,000 passengers a day in each direction over the bulk of the line -- 1000 seats at 20 trains per hour in each direction) For much under 200km there's starts to be little benefit to high speed (10 minutes - station design and frequency far more important) For more than 1000km then you'll struggle to compete with planes -- although a 600kph maglev probably works at most scales -- certainly upto 3000km.