The magnetic-levitation train is finally going somewhere. Following extensive trial runs in Germany, construction will begin just outside Shanghai this month on the concrete-and-steel monorail for the world's first long distance maglev passenger system. With speeds topping 267 mph - far faster than Amtrak's Acela (150 mph) and France's TGV (186 mph) - the Transrapid will travel the 18.6-mile route between the Pudong International Airport and the Lujiazui financial district in seven minutes. Electromagnets attached to the base of each car curl under the track, where attraction to a set of ferromagnetic rails keeps the car hovering 0.4 inch in the air. An alternating current pumping through the rails propels the train toward its destination. And because there are no moving parts or wheels, the only sound the cars make is a low whoosh. "It's a completely different type of noise," says engineer Zoltan Wiandt. "It's aerodynamic, not mechanical."
Transrapid takes its name from the German consortium comprising Siemens, ThyssenKrupp, and Transrapid International, which designed the train and manages the Shanghai project in partnership with regional authorities. Scheduled to leave the station in 2003, the Transrapid is just the start of China's high-speed aspirations. The People's Republic reportedly aims to overcome the vast expanses between its cities with thousands of miles of new routes.
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