Xavier, Lear, Maykell, Jun
Instructor: Julianne Davidow
Class: ENGL 21007 Spring 2024
Due Date: 5/18/2025
Table of Contents
Title: 1
Intro: 3
Background: 4-5
Why maglev over traditional trains: 5-6
Technical description: 7
Cost, time, materials, and workforce: 8-10
Conclusion: 9
References: 10-11
Introduction
Time is one of the most valuable things we hold as a society. One way people spend time is through transportation. In the United States, the most common ways to travel long distances are by car or airplane. Unlike most of Europe, its citizens heavily rely on trains as their main means of transportation. In the United States, people try not to rely heavily on trains because there are no new railroad systems that effectively travel. That’s where maglev comes in, short for magnetic levitation, it is a technology designed to make traveling long distances much more quickly and more efficiently. In order to lower the time needed to travel long distances. It is faster than the current trains here in America and more efficient. Which will incline more people to travel by train. This would mean that people could get to their destinations quicker, saving time by avoiding irritating traffic or long stuffy airport waits. In addition, it would be more energy-efficient and modern, which could encourage more people to travel by train instead of relying only on planes and cars because of our desire as a society to move towards an eco-friendly way of operations. The weak state of America’s rail infrastructure, particularly its reliance on outdated standard train systems, poses one of the most serious transportation challenges of our time. Not only does this issue limit mobility options, but it also contributes significantly to environmental decay through excessive carbon emissions and energy inefficiency. By transitioning to magnetic levitation (maglev) technology, implementing strategic high speed passageways between major urban cities, we create a much more effective and cleaner transit ecosystem that dramatically reduces travel times and eliminates the environmental issues associated with standard rail systems.
Background
Magnetic levitation is often shortened to Maglev. Is a train system that uses engineering to make magnets guide a train along a magnetic rail system. Unlike the traditional train system with wheels and track. The maglev trains float above guideways using powerful magnets. This eliminates friction of traditional train setup, which in turn makes it able to reach top speeds. Which is shown when in 2015 “SCMAGLEV train operated by Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) broke the train speed world record by clocking in at 603 km/h (374 mph)” (Northeast Maglev). Which was also covered in a BBC news article.
Maglev technology has been in development since the early 20 century. The origin was a physics graduate student named Rober H Goddard. Was the first to raise the idea of a magnetically levitated train. Then Eric Laithwaite developed “the first full size working model of linear motor induction” (Northeast Maglev). The first patent however was from two American physicists Dr. Gordon T. Danby and Dr. James R. Powell, in 1967. Dr Powell in 1960 was the first to have the thought and consulted his colleague Dr Danby. Which led them to make the first patent for this idea. Of course It never went mainstream.
Today the US lacks train infrastructure and has gone to a heavy car dependent mode of transportation. While the east seems to have adopted this idea and has implemented several successful inderation of the maglev trains. The first commercial high speed maglev train was built in 2004 in shanghai. Which connected Shanghai Pudong international airport with the city. Japan then refined this system to make a line between Tokyo and Nagoya. Which was the one to the world speed record of 603km/h (374 mph) in 2015. The maglev is a technology of the future. With its high speed, efficiency and low noise pollution it is no brainer that this will be revolutionary if implemented in America. As transportation demand grows in urban and cross state travel. Maglev is a promising solution for High speed sustainable travel.
Why Maglev Over Traditional trains
The traditional wheel on rail is a great consistent contender to the maglev. With its biggest pro is the cost of building it upfront is cheaper than the maglev. Since there are so many wheeled trains, I tried and tested methods of transportation. However even if that’s true Maglev clearly defeats them in terms of speed and efficiency. Not only is it faster and more eco-friendly since it’s efficiency is better, it’s nicer to ride shown in the figure from a research paper from ScienceDirect.
The figure shows how the vibration of the two types of maglev train vertical movement and vibrations compare to the traditional wheel-rail trains at different speeds. Meaning that the overall rider experience is better. In addition it shows no energy is lost due to vertical and unstable movement. Since the more stable something is, the less energy it needs to be held upright. The energy that makes regular wheel-rail trains bounce and clatter is now saved through maglev technology. In addition the cost may cost more upfront but since maglev having less components and railway maintenance it’s cheaper to maintain. Which may eventually out way its uptight cost. While traditional trains remain in the market through its affordability and established presence. Maglev however can offer superior speed and comfort making a more enjoyable and future forward expedition.
Technical Description
A maglev train is at its core, simply a type of train. It runs on rails and utilizes a series of cars to transport people and/or objects. However, its mechanisms are fundamentally different from that of a traditional train. Rather than running on wheels and being propelled by an internal combustion engine, it utilizes magnetic levitation to propel itself along the rail, allowing it to move at significantly faster speeds than a normal train.
The maglev train that would be built on the Northeast Corridor would utilize Electrodynamic Suspension (EDS), as used on the SCMaglev in Japan (The Washington Post, 2019). With this type of suspension, both the track and the train itself exert a magnetic field. The magnetic field in the train is produced by superconducting magnets, while the repulsive force in the tracks is created by an induced magnetic field in wires within the track. The magnets in the train induced currents in the wires in the tracks, which creates a magnetic field that generates both repulsion and attraction. This magnetic field pulls the train forward from the front and pushes the train from the back, allowing it to levitate and move forward.
(Pattini, 2009)
Cost, time, materials, and workforce
Now that we know how a maglev system and train work, one may wonder, just how many resources will this project need to work efficiently? With how beneficial maglev trains look and perform, surely the cost has to be great right? Well I’m here to report that the cost is quite affordable for the government. According to this website, “A Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the project was published in January 2021. Capital costs for the alternatives considered in the DEIS ranged between $10 billion and $13 billion for the roughly 35-mile line, or $285 million to $370 million per mile” (Magnetic Levitation (Maglev) Trains: Technical Background, Cost Estimates, and Recent Developments 2021). $10 billion may sound like a lot, but when you put it in perspective that the U.S makes trillions of dollars each year, it sounds very affordable.
Another concern would be time. How long will this project take to fully complete it and make it run commercially. Building a maglev train that goes from Boston to Washington D.C could take “potentially 7-10 years or more, depending on the specific route and construction timeline” (Geerts, A maglev train in the US? ‘we need to break the chain of low expectations’ 2025). At that time when that article was written, 3 years had already passed, this means that potentially the maglev train could be close to finishing.
To add on, another issue people might have about maglev, is the issue of what materials we may need. A superconducting maglev train, like the one we use, “would primarily use superconducting materials for levitation, propulsion, and guidance, along with specialized concrete for the guideway. Concrete would also be used for station and facility construction” (Baltimore-Washington Superconducting Maglev draft …). For this project, concrete is the primary use. Lastly, because we need so much materials, one may also wonder, who? Will work with these materials and place them down. Well, with “The construction of Northeast Maglev, the estimated amount of jobs created would be 205,000, but it will also bring the region’s metropolitan areas, and their workforces, much closer to each other, elevating economies and benefiting local communities” (LP 2025). With this in mind, the project can create a ton of brand new jobs, along with some permanent ones in the cities that the maglev system runs through. Not only does this benefit our community, but it can potentially relieve some greenhouse gases emission, now that maglev is being put in place.
Conclusion
In summation, time is an important commodity we as a society are unfortunately unable to get back. No matter how hard we try, time will always slip out of our hands. Instead of waiting in traffic or even in the lobby of airports, missing birthdays, ceremonies, or critical emergencies. We should find better ways to travel. The current transportation systems in the United States are outdated and definitely could use a massive upgrade, especially when it comes to our transit systems. Maglev technology can offer a faster, more efficient, and more reliable way to travel long distances in half the time. By being able to invest in a maglev system, it could mean that the United States can invest in saving people’s time, reduce traffic, and pollution overall. It would also bring back train travel as an attractive option to United States citizens, reducing other common emitors of pollution like airplanes and cars. It is a step toward a smarter and more advanced future of transportation.
References
Baltimore-Washington Superconducting Maglev draft … (n.d.). https://railroads.dot.gov/sites/fra.dot.gov/files/2021-01/App-G.10%20thru%20G.15_DEIS.pdf
Geerts, E. (2025, May 16). A maglev train in the US? “we need to break the chain of low expectations.” RailTech.com. https://www.railtech.com/infrastructure/2022/02/28/a-maglev-train-in-the-us-we-need-to-break-the-chain-of-low-expectations/#:~:text=The%20construction%20of%20this%20stretch,to%20be%20unnoticable%20above%20ground.
The Washington Post. (2019, July 11). Northeast Maglev’s Ian Rainey describes how high-speed rail would transform the Northeast region [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uu62PLbvneY
Pattini, F. (2009). EDS MAGLEV magnetic field to move, sustain and centre the train [Figure]. In Growth of oxide thin films for energy devices by Pulsed Electron Deposition [Doctoral dissertation, Università degli Studi di Parma]. ResearchGate. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/EDS-MAGLEV-magnetic-field-to-move-sustain-and-centre-the-train-3-Many-studies-are_fig22_33436805
Goldman, & Ben. (2021, May 18). Magnetic Levitation (Maglev) Trains: Technical Background, Cost Estimates, and Recent Developments. Congress.gov. https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF11834
LP. Northeast Maglev. (2025, May 14). https://northeastmaglev.com/lp/#:~:text=Create%20Jobs,14%2C600%20permanent%20jobs%20after%20opening.
BBC. (2015, April 21). Japan Maglev Train Breaks World Speed Record Again. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-32391020
Shibboleth authentication request. (n.d.). https://www-sciencedirect-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/science/article/pii/S0011227521000795#s0035
What is Maglev Technology, and why is it Better Than Regular Railway?. Technology Org. (2024, April 25). https://www.technology.org/how-and-why/what-is-maglev-technology-and-why-is-it-better-than-regular-railway/
