[ireland.com] Deaths after magnetic train crash in Germany

Navan Junction

Ireland.com, Last updated: 22-09-06, 12:22

An elevated Transrapid train carrying around 30 people has crashed on a test run in northern Germany and killed some passengers, authorities said today.

A spokesman for the administrative district of Emsland in northwest Germany said the train had collided with an object on the track while travelling at a speed of at least 200 kilometres an hour and that several passengers had been seriously injured.

The Transrapid is a high-speed system that uses magnetic levitation on a special track. The only operational use of the system is as a high speed shuttle to Shanghai airport from the city centre.

The maglev system was developed by Transrapid International, a joint venture between Siemens and ThyssenKrupp. The site in Emsland is a test facility.

BendiBus

Also reported on BBC

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5370564.stm

Chris_533976

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I hope this doesnt put Maglev trains back by too much. They're definatly the future.

Alun

Chris_533976 wrote:

I hope this doesnt put Maglev trains back by too much. They're definatly the future.

Can't see why it should. It hit a maintenance vehicle that was on the track which has little to do with whether it was a maglev train or any other kind of train, the outcome would have been the same or similar.

Ste.phen

would the fact that it was maglev have contributed to this though?
I don't know much about the technology to be honest, but surely lower friction = longer braking distances?

Chris_533976

Depends on the strength of the magnets. Theoretically it could be stopped within an inch. But obviously that would kill everyone

A Dub in Glasgo

What caused the accident was total negligence. The Maglev contributed to the severity (ie speed and height above ground). Rightly or wrongly, this will set back the Maglev.

Sarsfield

What sort of signalling system is in operation on this track? I'm wondering how human error alone could allow a crash into another vehicle. Surely even a test track is signalled?

Capt'n Midnight

one aspect that stood out was how difficult it was for the rescue crews to get to the train, up high on stilts

was there an elevated walkway beside the track

godtabh

I saw the pictures of this and it was hard for people to get on to the 5m stilts.

I was reading up on it. It maybe the way of the future but the Greens in Germany said it was to loud and used to much energy and that stopped it going forward.

They also have set backs in China where they had a fire in one of the carriages last month.

Lot of set backs lately

Capt'n Midnight

Chris_533976 wrote:

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I hope this doesnt put Maglev trains back by too much. They're definatly the future.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A%C3%A9rotrain / http://aernav.free.fr/Aerotrain/Aerotrain.html
Runs on a concrete track, so next to no track maintainance

It's much lower tech than maglev and uses far fewer metals, and since is a hovercraft can leave the track and turn around on any flat surface ( though when travelling at speed can use ram air to hover )

Alun

Just wondering out loud ... is there any particular reason why maglev tracks have to be so high off the ground on stilts, or is it just part of the 'futuristic' look?

shltter

Alun wrote:

Just wondering out loud ... is there any particular reason why maglev tracks have to be so high off the ground on stilts, or is it just part of the 'futuristic' look?

Lyle Lanley: Well, sir, there's nothing on earth
Like a genuine,
Bona fide,
Electrified,
Six-car
Monorail!
What'd I say?

Navan Junction

Japanese railroad will invest $3.1 billion to develop high-speed magnetic trains over the next decade, the company said today, just days after a crash of an experimental magnetic train in Germany killed 23 people.

The spending by Central Japan Railway Co. will expand a test track just west of Tokyo and fund new magnetically levitated, or "maglev," trains carriages.

The move comes as Germany and Japan jostle to win new customers for the high speed trains, which are the fastest in the world. Skimming over a guideway on powerful magnetic fields without touching the track, they can reach speeds of up to 360 miles per hour.

The technology is still under development, although there are two short stretches of commercially operating maglev trains, one in Shanghai and the other in the central Japanese city of Nagoya.

German Traffic Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee was in China at the time of Friday's accident, trying to urge officials there to extend their use of the German-made technology along the Shanghai route, a contract that Japan competed for but lost.

"We can't speak for the German company," Central Japan Railway spokesman Taro Yoshikawa said. "But we've conducted extensive testing on our technology, and from a safety point of view, there are no concerns."

There have been no fatalities in test runs of the company's maglev, and the train has set a speed record with passengers aboard of 360 miles per hour, Yoshikawa said.

The German-built maglev in Shanghai has safety systems that would prevent the type of crash that occurred last week, said Chang Wensen, a professor at the Maglev Research Center at the National University of Defense Technology in the central Chinese city of Changsha.

That line has computerized systems that prevent two trains from being on one track at the same time and that automatically stop the train if there is an obstacle ahead, Chang said.

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