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ROME, March 12 (Reuters) - An Italian company has conducted what it says is the first test of magnetic levitation (maglev) transport on an existing railway track, a technology that has the potential to reduce costs and energy use as the industry seeks more efficient systems. IronLev, a high-tech firm headquartered in the northern Italian town of Treviso, showcased a video of the test at the LetExpo2024 trade fair in the Veneto region on Tuesday

BEIJING, July 20 (Reuters) - China unveiled a maglev train capable of a top speed of 600 kph on Tuesday, state media said. The maximum speed would make the train, self-developed by China and manufactured in the coastal city of Qingdao, the fastest ground vehicle globally. Using electro-magnetic force, the maglev train "levitates" above the track with no contact between body and rail.

Construction for a maglev train line that would take passengers from Washington to Baltimore in 15 minutes could alter a D.C. neighborhood and affect nearby properties for years, District officials said Monday. A maglev station in the Mount Vernon Square area has the potential to change the character of the neighborhood and bring “substantial construction and long-term operational implications on nearby properties,” Andrew Trueblood, director of the D.C. Office of Planning, said in a statement that urged residents and city leaders to engage in the federal review of the multibillion-dollar project. The 40-mile “superconducting magnetic levitation train system,” commonly called...

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) recently published a Notice of Grant Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for a shade over $24 million for the Magnetic Levitation Technology Deployment Program (Maglev Grants Program). […] Published in the Federal Register, the NOFO notes that existing projects proposed for Pittsburgh, Baltimore-Washington and Atlanta-Chattanooga are the only ones eligible for the full $24.03 million. Applicants with otherwise eligible Maglev projects may apply only for the $10 million in 2019 Funds. …

Seeking to attract millions more passengers, Amtrak is preparing a large-scale overhaul of its national network aimed at boosting passenger service in the South and West—but at the expense of long-haul routes beloved by train buffs and their allies in Congress. The goal is to revamp the way Amtrak runs trains along the aging network of national routes it already maintains, with more frequent service between pairs of cities in the fastest-growing parts of the country, such as Atlanta and Charlotte, NC, or Cleveland and Cincinnati. Running more trains over shorter distances would allow Amtrak to better serve those commercial...

**SNIP** Perhaps the biggest blow to the high-speed rail project came in 2010, when Republicans won control of the U.S. House of Representatives. They proceeded to block any further federal funding for high-speed rail, undermining the California project’s financial plan. Ironically, Gov. Newsom’s decision to pause high-speed rail comes just as Democrats have retaken the majority in the House, making possible a Green New Deal and billions in high-speed rail funding. California ought to show the country how to overcome these obstacles. If we believe climate change is real, then we are obligated to do something about it, and not...

While stuck in traffic in 1961, James Powell, a young researcher at Brookhaven National Laboratory came up with the idea of using powerful magnets to lift and propel massive passenger-carrying cars. Over the next seven years, he and his colleague Gordon Danby spent their spare time piecing together a concept. They obtained a patent for the breakthrough in 1968. Powell and Danby's magnetic levitation, or maglev, technology must have seemed like magic back then, but it is now being used to move large trains at speeds up to 375 miles per hour! Not content to rest on this sole accomplishment,...

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is pitching Japan’s maglev technology for the railway system in the United States. Speaking in a meeting with US business leaders and financial experts in New York on Wednesday, Abe said that in the late 2030s, a maglev train linking Tokyo to Nagoya in central Japan will take just 40 minutes - an hour shorter than currently required for the shinkansen bullet train. The two cities are about 260km apart, as the crow flies. “The distance between Tokyo and Nagoya is almost the same as that between New York and [Washington] DC,” he said. “You...

A warning siren bellowed through the concrete bunker of a top-secret Naval facility where U.S. military engineers prepared to demonstrate a weapon for which there is little defense. Officials huddled at a video screen for a first look at a deadly new supergun that can fire a 25-pound projectile through seven steel plates and leave a 5-inch hole. The weapon is called a railgun and requires neither gunpowder nor explosive. It is powered by electromagnetic rails that accelerate a hardened projectile to staggering velocity—a battlefield meteorite with the power to one day transform military strategy, say supporters, and keep the...

I'm writing a fictional novel, which includes development of a maglev hover car. Can anyone point me to scholarly articles regarding magnetic levitation for my research? I have a PhD in chemistry but know very little about physics. Than you so much.

Elon Musk's 'Hyperloop' was dismissed as a pipe dream that would never get off the ground. But now the billionaire's plans to shoot capsules of passengers along a tube at around the speed of sound may launch as soon as next year. Hyperloop Transportation Technologies has secured land for the first full-scale Hyperloop with a 2016 launch in the California town of Quay Valley.

<p>The trains use magnetic levitation technology instead of wheels ...</p> <p>Japan's floating bullet trains - which will travel at up speeds of up to 311mph - have undergone their first test runs.</p> <p>The magnetic levitation, or 'maglev' trains, use state-of-the-art technology to reach mind-blowing speeds ...</p>

September 20, 2010, Mojave, CA and Huntsville, AL: XCOR Aerospace, Inc. announced today they have completed the primary supersonic wind tunnel testing of the Lynx suborbital spacecraft. The tests were performed at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) using a precision scale model and demonstrated the integrity of the Lynx aerodynamic shape and provided data to make final refinements to the vehicle. These new data provide confidence that the Lynx aerodynamic shape will have stable and controllable flight throughout the range of Mach numbers and angles of attack needed for the Lynx mission.

The billions we will spend on HS2 will get us from London to Birmingham 28 minutes faster than the present system does. After Birmingham, the trains will travel on old linesChina has the longest commercial maglev train service in the world. Japan holds the speed record (361mph). Germany has the best technology. And Britain … well, as usual, we’re just the ones who invented the thing. Readers of a certain age may recall Eric Laithwaite’s Christmas lectures to the Royal Institution in which he demonstrated how a linear induction motor (which he invented in the forties) could supply both lift...

South Korea started to build a rail and other facilities for the countryÂ’s first magnetic levitation trains on Yeongjong Island, some 30 kilometers west of Seoul, on Tuesday. The construction is a major part of the governmentÂ’s plan to commercialize environment-friendly transport services, the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs said. The country plans to operate unmanned maglev trains that link Incheon International Airport and Yongyoo Station where travelers can take express trains heading to Seoul. The groundbreaking ceremony was held at Incheon International Airport to construct a 6.1 kilometer rail at the nationÂ’s major airfield to test maglev...

Public and private partnerships could be the wind that pushes the company forward in the race for high-speed rail and alternative energy in the United States.German industrial conglomerate Siemens AG is betting that the United States will become a prime market for high-speed rail and renewable energy as the nation tries to lessen its dependence on fossil fuels. Part of the company's success in these areas will depend on what happens in Washington. But government support alone won't fuel future growth in high-speed rail, says Daryl Dulaney, CEO of Siemens Industry Inc. "To make high-speed rail happen, it needs a...

Officials are opening for public review the plans for a magnetic-levitation train from Pittsburgh to Greensburg, marking another tiny step forward for the decade-long project. The final environmental impact statement for the proposed $5.3 billion, 54-mile Pittsburgh Maglev project was posted for public review and comment Thursday at the Port Authority of Allegheny County's office and at www.portauthority.org. The authority is managing public funding for McKeesport-based Maglev Inc. but has no role in planning or building the train. Maglev Inc. President Fred Gurney said he was waiting for federal officials' go-ahead before taking the environmental study to the public, and...

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood wants to jump start Mag-Lev development in this country, and says and Atlanta to Chattanooga link makes sense. LaHood tested a high speed rail system in Japan last month. He compares the Obama administration's push for high-speed rail to the creation of the the Interstate system. Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield say "I was amazed and surprised and very very pleased that he came out and talked about Atlanta, Chattanooga because I've always felt, even looking at it nationally that there is no project that holds more promise than this project." The statement comes with a cost....

TSURU, Japan (AP) - U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood took a ride Tuesday on the fastest passenger train in the world, a Japanese maglev, as part of Tokyo's sales pitch for billions of dollars in high-speed train contracts from the U.S. Washington is attempting to drive development of a new train network that will eventually span the country, but the U.S. has almost no domestic experience or technology. Japan, with one of the most advanced train systems in the world, is an eager seller, though it has had scant success with exports so far. LaHood, who in the past few...

Korea will operate unmanned magnetic levitation trains in Incheon International Airport from 2013, becoming the latest country after Japan to commercialize the next generation transportation system. The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs said Monday that it will finish constructing a 6.1 kilometer railway by 2012 within the country's main airport and begin running unmanned magnetic levitation trains that will travel at 110 kilometers per hour. The ministry also unveiled a prototype of the train. As one of Korea's state-funded research and development (R&D) projects, the government decided in 2006 to invest 450 billion won ($400 million) into developing...