by Suburban Station
I know this is probably a stupid question, but would mag lev tech work as a subway line if it were straight? would it be substantially faster and require less maintenance than a traditional subway?
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#5 - Dyre Ave wrote:Even on NYC express lines and the Broad Street express tracks, maglev still wouldn't be much faster than conventional steel-wheel trains or rubber-tired trains like the ones in Montreal. Maglev is really suited for much longer distances (such as Philadelphia to Pittsburgh - hey, wasn't a high-speed maglev line between the two cities proposed years ago?)It's actually funny to see how man MagLev proposals keep coming out and getting shot down. Everybody thinks it's a wonderful idea until they see the price tag.
RedLantern wrote:I was mainly curious because they say it requires little maintenance, which is a large ongoing cost. i hadn't been aware that they use substantially more power which could offset the labor savings. The MagLev proposal in Pitsburgh just doesn't catch anyone's imagination. It's essentially a commuter line. Pittsburgh Philly in less than two hours? that's something I can get behind. I always hear conflicting arguments about Mag Lev so it's hard to make a determination. I was thinking that if maintenance is really so low, maybe it could make sense for a transit line but if it uses more power, then it's certainly not worth the money since you'd see no speed benefits.#5 - Dyre Ave wrote:Even on NYC express lines and the Broad Street express tracks, maglev still wouldn't be much faster than conventional steel-wheel trains or rubber-tired trains like the ones in Montreal. Maglev is really suited for much longer distances (such as Philadelphia to Pittsburgh - hey, wasn't a high-speed maglev line between the two cities proposed years ago?)It's actually funny to see how man MagLev proposals keep coming out and getting shot down. Everybody thinks it's a wonderful idea until they see the price tag.
Suburban Station wrote:I know this is probably a stupid question, but would mag lev tech work as a subway line if it were straight? would it be substantially faster and require less maintenance than a traditional subway?Since this has nothing to do with SEPTA, off to General Discussion we go.
Suburban Station wrote:I know this is probably a stupid question, but would mag lev tech work as a subway line if it were straight? would it be substantially faster and require less maintenance than a traditional subway?There used to be one at Birmingham International station to connect with the airport. I used to try it out if I was passing that way. It wasn't very fast but it was smooth. That was about 25 years ago. I think it may have been built 30 years ago. Long ago it was abandoned and a conventional airport shuttle replaced it. They claimed they couldn't get parts as no others had been built. It seemed excellent to me.
george matthews wrote:I tried to use it on two occasions but both times it was down with some sort of ailment; I don't know whether that happened often.Suburban Station wrote:I know this is probably a stupid question, but would mag lev tech work as a subway line if it were straight? would it be substantially faster and require less maintenance than a traditional subway?There used to be one at Birmingham International station to connect with the airport. I used to try it out if I was passing that way. It wasn't very fast but it was smooth. That was about 25 years ago. I think it may have been built 30 years ago. Long ago it was abandoned and a conventional airport shuttle replaced it. They claimed they couldn't get parts as no others had been built. It seemed excellent to me.
Oh, and it wasn't straight but followed curves. It wasn't a subway but in the open. I never saw it during snow.
Clearly a line like that could be used as a subway but all the costs would need to be considered.