Maglev derailed

Oh, I get it… “Maglev DERAILED!” Clever.

This just in from the “Department of flying cars"… German plans for maglev derailed.  Apparently they were too expensive.  Can anyone explain to me what pressing issue is solved by maglev trains that is not solved by trains with wheels?  I mean, the wheel’s been around a long time for a reason.

Posted by George on 03/27/08 at 01:07 PM
Science & TechnologyTransportation
  1. Probably obtaining funding from the government, because levitation is SO much sexier than wheels.

    Posted by EdK  on  03/27/08  at  09:12 PM
  2. Can anyone explain to me what pressing issue is solved by maglev trains that is not solved by trains with wheels?

    The only things that come to mind are speed, acceleration, braking, and less mechanical or moving parts related to movement (going and stopping). But I highly doubt these items outweigh the cost.

    Posted by webs05  on  03/27/08  at  09:50 PM
  3. I have to agree with Ed.  This train’s so cool, it doesn’t ride:  it floats.  Of course whatever advantages there are of building such a train, I imagine they would be far outweighed by either building a more extensive network, increasing the frequency of trains on the network you build (which would probably have a greater aggregate effect on speed than having faster trains), or just saving money.

    Posted by Lucas  on  03/31/08  at  12:15 AM

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