They were invented decades ago.

They have fewer moving parts than wheelbois.

They require less maintenance.

There's obviously some bottleneck in expanding maglev technology, but what is it?

  • jackmarxist [any]
    hexbear
    4
    9 months ago

    They're quite expensive for a start and standard HSR does it's job just fine.

    Japan is the only country that's building actual Maglev lines. It's feasible in Japan due to popularity of rail and distance between the endpoints makes it worth it.

    China has Maglev tech and also some demo Maglev lines. But they are committed to standard rail because it's cheaper to build using a standardised process and works good enough on large distance travel required in China.

    In the US, it's nearly impossible because Petroleum companies and such hate the idea of cheap and efficient transport and just bribe the politicians to be against it.

    • markr [he/him, any]
      hexbear
      5
      9 months ago

      I rode the maglev to the shanghai airport, it was awesome. The newer version in Beijing is significantly faster. But yeah super expensive to build.

      • 𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒏@lemmy.one
        hexbear
        1
        9 months ago

        How was the ride? Smooth/bumpy/not feel much movement?

        My experience on a much slower HSR is being thrown around in the seat at certain times, wouldn't want to be carrying an open drink of any kind tbh lol