The Train That’s Faster Than a Plane

Engineering, Transport

Transatlantic Maglev VacTrain illustration

Imagine boarding a train in London and arriving in New York less than an hour later. Sound too good to be true? This could soon become a reality thanks to something called a “vacuum tube train”. The idea is to take existing maglev technology – which involves using electromagnets to propel a train along a track which it never actually touches – and embed it inside an airless tube to eliminate air resistance. This will allow speeds of over 5,000 mph to be achieved and finally make super-fast intercontinental travel possible.

Maglev technology has been around for decades but the first commercial high-speed line didn’t open until 2004. This line runs for 19 miles between Shanghai and Pudong International Airport and reaches a nippy 268 mph, making the full journey in just 7 minutes. A much longer route is currently under construction in Japan and will link the capital Tokyo with the cities of Nagoya and Osaka by 2027 and 2045 respectively.

There are many advantages of maglev over conventional high-speed rail. First of all, a maglev system requires a lot less maintenance due to the fact that the train floats above the track. A normal train must have parts replaced every few months due to general wear and tear and tracks must be replaced every couple of decades due to frictional degradation. Maglev trains on the other hand have a much longer maintenance schedule due to having no moving parts and their tracks can last much longer as they are never actually in contact with the train.

Secondly, maglevs are a lot safer than conventional trains for a number of reasons. As maglev trains only float a few millimetres above the track, any loss of power would result in the train simply dropping onto the track meaning a derailment is impossible. Also, as all of the trains are controlled by a central computer system, collision avoidance systems can be used to eliminate human error and prevent two trains ever colliding.

Thirdly, maglev trains are much more power efficient than conventional trains as they only require energy to overcome air resistance instead of a combination of air resistance and frictional resistance between the train and the track. This, combined with the fact that they are powered by electricity instead of fossil fuels mean that maglev trains are much better for the environment than any other current form of transport.

As awesome as maglev trains are, like all technology, they have limiting factors. The major limiting factor for maglevs is air resistance. The density of air at ground level means that they will eventually hit a speed and and power efficiency limit. The current speed record for a maglev train is 361 mph which is very fast in it’s own right but is only 4 mph faster than the conventional rail speed record. In order to reach much higher speeds, air resistance must be greatly reduced. The only way to achieve this is to embed a standard maglev track inside a tube which is under partial vacuum.
This will not only allow speeds of over 5,000 mph but will also mean that hardly any energy – in this case electricity – will be consumed to reach those speeds. Part of the energy used to accelerate the train can also be regained using regenerative braking as the train slows down.
Vacuum tube trains have the potential to be the fastest, most reliable and most energy efficient form of transport in history. They really show their worth over extremely long distances such as between continents where they make even planes – long thought to be the pinnacle of super-fast transport – look slow. The most amazing thing about them however is that we already have the technology to make them a reality. So what’s stopping us? Some might say the high costs, but as fossil fuels start to run out and put our environment at more extreme danger in the coming years, the exponential rise in the cost of out current forms of transport may make “Vactrains” look cheap. Ultimately there are many possible ways we could be travelling around the World in the future but I doubt any will be as fast, clean, reliable and safe as vactrains.
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