
Going off track: How Britain invented the Maglev then let it slide - bilifuduo
http://thelongandshort.org/machines/whither-british-maglev?utm_source=SFFB
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nannal
"Birmingham isn't like other British cities – it fetishises the technical and
promotes the new."

That's one potentially contestable way to view Birmingham

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UK-AL
Birmingham has a good history with technology. Look at the Lunar Society.

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mangecoeur
I know maglevs look cool and all, but there are quite practical reasons why
they didn't pan out. One thing people tend to overlook is that regular rail
lines are much more versatile. Regular rail can handle a variety of loads -
the French high speed rail system also handles postal mail for instance. If
you are building rail lines you already have a ton of kit that can use them -
such as all the service machinery. Build a maglev and you can throw away all
your expensive line maintenance vehicles.

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seanos
MagLev did pan out though, just not in Britain. For example,
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_Maglev_Train](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_Maglev_Train)

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wnevets
did it really pan out if there are so few of them?

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randomusr883
Depends on what you mean by "panned out". The tech works, but society isn't
interested in trains since it was developed and matured.

We pushed cars, freeways, etc. Not just in the US. Other countries followed
along for their own reasons.

It's like nuclear; the tech can work fine. We just don't have the interest.

I blame lobbying against public utilities, personally. Decades of pro-
privatization rhetoric, getting people to buy-in on their own vehicle, versus
pub-trans.

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gniv
The question of why it didn't take off is answered in the article, albeit in
parentheses: "(Maglev is indisputably more expensive upfront than high-speed
rail.)"

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m-i-l
Also mentioned: "The first time it snowed, all hell broke loose!" Although
later on, the article alludes to the ingenious solution to this problem which
was devised elsewhere in the world - enclose it in a tunnel.

EDIT: Although according to
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maglev](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maglev)
"Maglev trains are little affected by snow, ice, severe cold, rain or high
winds".

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melling
No mention of the low-speed maglev being built in Beijing:

[http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2016-11/28/content_275...](http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2016-11/28/content_27504299.htm)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_S1,_BCR](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_S1,_BCR)

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kbutler
Haven't read the article yet, but I admire the title.

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Etheryte
The colorful intermediate text passages have so bad kerning that they're nigh
impossible to read.

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mattkevan
The UK has a proud history of doing things and then failing to capitalise on
it. Examples:

• Black Arrow [0] - orbital satellite launcher, cancelled almost on the day of
the first successful launch.

• Miles M.52 [1] - could have beaten the Bell-X1 to supersonic flight by a
year, if it hadn't been cancelled.

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Arrow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Arrow)
[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miles_M.52](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miles_M.52)

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moonbug
Whoever wrote that description of my home city evidently last visited in 1816.

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mattkevan
I thought it was funny recently that people were pleased Spielberg chose
Birmingham as the perfect post-apocalyptic wasteland for shooting Ready Player
One.

[http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/film-news/look-
stev...](http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/film-news/look-steven-
spielberg-turns-jewellery-11844767)

Not sure I would have been happy about that...

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beat
It's maglev! It's not supposed to slide, it's supposed to float!

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DavidWanjiru
It has to slide (more like roll along) before it can float, doesn't it? It
doesn't take off like a chopper, you know?

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jlebrech
M###ie T###cher

