3 ms·

That makes me curious what the braking performance and stopping distance is relative to normal trains and at different speeds.

pedrocr 13y ago
A quick look at wikipedia[1] shows that these trains often have regenerative braking which means you can have both the wheels and the maglev system stopping the train. So at the same speeds these should be able to brake faster than traditional trains. I assume these have the potential of going significantly faster than normal trains making braking harder. In this test though they didn't reach even the peak speed of normal trains. Apparently the french TGV has the record for normal trains at 575km/h[2] (vs 500km/h in this test) even though normal operation is "only" 320km/h. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maglev#Power_and_energy_usage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maglev#Power_and_energy_usage [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TGV https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TGV
- ojii 13y ago
  The difference is that the TGV you mentioned was a highly modified version just for this speed record. The L0 [1] shown in the video is planned to be the production train and run 500km/h in actual service. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L0_Series_Shinkansen http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L0_Series_Shinkansen
  - touristtam 13y ago
    Then again both train use different technology. Running gear on a TGV is a massive friction generator compared to a maglev, I would think, and consequently the record is very impressive. Still I would love maglev line to be build through Europe.
    - LaGrange 13y ago
      Nah. Space and diminishing returns have been the main blocks for improving EU HSR investment since quite a long time. Dedicated lines take up space that could be used by local rail, are expensive to build, and while they work in an all-the-rails-lead-to-Paris mode, in a less centralized country they're significantly less effective. In fact, three countries probably most often praised for railway quality would be Switzerland (barely any HSR, and huge fail, and while they are adding more tracks between Zurich, Bern and Geneva, they're going to be used by local traffic as well), Netherlands (where railways were limited to 140km/h for way too long, and HSR is also limited) and Germany (there is an extensive HSR network, but it's significantly slower than the French one. All also because getting it faster would cost more than it's worth for them). French HSR is excellent, but the railways in general are a bit lacking (but also used to the point of track and station saturation). Anyway, one possibility many people ignore unfairly (in my opinion) for longer routes are night trains: you might arrive on the same day, but modern night trains often offer a hotel-quality accommodation, so I will be there in the morning, rested, and the time I've spent on the train will be time I'm sleeping anyway - so in many ways the trip actually would take less time than for an airplane or fast rail. And it's far more energy efficient as well.
      - seszett 13y ago
        Night trains are great, but only when it's an option. In France, they are basically limited to the south nowadays, when just a few years back at least some used to run up to here, in the west. Most non-HSR offers are being squeezed, seemingly to orient people towards the more lucrative HSR trains.
- masklinn 13y ago
  575km/h is hardly the peak speed of "normal" trains, V150 was a custom trainset (higher than normal power output, AGV bogies on a POS trainset and 3 cars to the standard 8) and running on a prepared track (increased catenary mechanical tension to handle the speed, and increased voltage from the standard 25kV to 31kV for increased power) Also note that the MLX01 demonstrator (a better equivalent to the customized trainset used in the TGV record) has reached 581km/h. It's also done so on the 42km Yamanashi Maglev Test Line where V150's run took a ~140km section of (non-test) track.

pedrocr 13y ago

A quick look at wikipedia[1] shows that these trains often have regenerative braking which means you can have both the wheels and the maglev system stopping the train. So at the same speeds these should be able to brake faster than traditional trains. I assume these have the potential of going significantly faster than normal trains making braking harder. In this test though they didn't reach even the peak speed of normal trains. Apparently the french TGV has the record for normal trains at 575km/h[2] (vs 500km/h in this test) even though normal operation is "only" 320km/h. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maglev#Power_and_energy_usage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maglev#Power_and_energy_usage [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TGV https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TGV

ojii 13y ago
The difference is that the TGV you mentioned was a highly modified version just for this speed record. The L0 [1] shown in the video is planned to be the production train and run 500km/h in actual service. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L0_Series_Shinkansen http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L0_Series_Shinkansen
- touristtam 13y ago
  Then again both train use different technology. Running gear on a TGV is a massive friction generator compared to a maglev, I would think, and consequently the record is very impressive. Still I would love maglev line to be build through Europe.
  - LaGrange 13y ago
    Nah. Space and diminishing returns have been the main blocks for improving EU HSR investment since quite a long time. Dedicated lines take up space that could be used by local rail, are expensive to build, and while they work in an all-the-rails-lead-to-Paris mode, in a less centralized country they're significantly less effective. In fact, three countries probably most often praised for railway quality would be Switzerland (barely any HSR, and huge fail, and while they are adding more tracks between Zurich, Bern and Geneva, they're going to be used by local traffic as well), Netherlands (where railways were limited to 140km/h for way too long, and HSR is also limited) and Germany (there is an extensive HSR network, but it's significantly slower than the French one. All also because getting it faster would cost more than it's worth for them). French HSR is excellent, but the railways in general are a bit lacking (but also used to the point of track and station saturation). Anyway, one possibility many people ignore unfairly (in my opinion) for longer routes are night trains: you might arrive on the same day, but modern night trains often offer a hotel-quality accommodation, so I will be there in the morning, rested, and the time I've spent on the train will be time I'm sleeping anyway - so in many ways the trip actually would take less time than for an airplane or fast rail. And it's far more energy efficient as well.
    - seszett 13y ago
      Night trains are great, but only when it's an option. In France, they are basically limited to the south nowadays, when just a few years back at least some used to run up to here, in the west. Most non-HSR offers are being squeezed, seemingly to orient people towards the more lucrative HSR trains.
masklinn 13y ago
575km/h is hardly the peak speed of "normal" trains, V150 was a custom trainset (higher than normal power output, AGV bogies on a POS trainset and 3 cars to the standard 8) and running on a prepared track (increased catenary mechanical tension to handle the speed, and increased voltage from the standard 25kV to 31kV for increased power) Also note that the MLX01 demonstrator (a better equivalent to the customized trainset used in the TGV record) has reached 581km/h. It's also done so on the 42km Yamanashi Maglev Test Line where V150's run took a ~140km section of (non-test) track.