What is High Speed Ground Transportation?
High-speed ground transportation (HSGT)-- a family of technologies ranging from upgraded existing railroads to magnetically levitated vehicles-- is a passenger transportation option that can best link cities lying about 100-500 miles apart. Common in Europe ( The European Railway Server) and Japan (Japan Railways),HSGT in the United States already exists in the Northeast Corridor (Amtrak) between New York and Washington, D.C. and will soon serve travelers between New York and Boston.
HSGT is self-guided intercity passenger ground transportation that is time competitive with air and/or auto on a door-to-door basis for trips in the approximate range of 100 to 500 miles. This is market-based, not a speed based definition. It recognizes that the opportunities and requirements for HSGT differ markedly among different pairs of cities. High-speed ground transportation (HSGT) is a family of technologies ranging from upgraded steel-wheel-on-rail railroads to magnetically levitated vehicles.
The Federal Railroad Administration has designated a variety of high density transportation corridors within our nation for development of HSGT:
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For more information, please visit the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA’s) High Speed Ground Transportation Website
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Magnetic levitation (Maglev) is an advanced technology in which magnetic forces lift, propel, and guide a vehicle over a guideway. Utilizing state-of-the-art electric power and control systems, this configuration eliminates contact between vehicle and guideway and permits cruising speeds of up to 300 mph, or almost two times the speed of conventional high-speed rail service. Because of its high speed, Maglev offers competitive trip-time savings to auto and aviation modes in the 40- to 600-mile travel markets–an ideal travel option for the 21st century.
Both the Pennsylvania and Baltimore-Washington plans utilize maglev technology developed by Transrapid International. The German design is based on a conventional non-superconductingelectromagnetic/attractive magnetic configuration, and has received extensive testing at a full-scale test track in Emsland, Germany. The latest design represents over 20 years of design evolution and 15 years' testing of full-scale Transrapid prototypes, including safety certification by the German government for passenger-carrying revenue service at speeds of 250 mph or higher.
Highlights of the Transrapid system are:
- High cruising speeds of 200 to 300 mph (320 kph to 480 kph)
- Fast acceleration and braking with outstanding passenger comfort
- Can climb 10% grades at full speed
- Safe operation on dedicated grade-separated track, or guideway
- Vehicle wraps around guideway to reduce risk of derailment
- Low electromagnetic field emission and interference potential
- Standard superelevation, or tilt, of 12 degrees (max. up to 16 degrees) to navigate curves
- Proven and tested automatic operations control system
- Minimal guideway maintenance with small footprint
- High system capacity
- Guideway energized sequentially for dynamic vehicle "block" control and reduced power demand
- Improved aerodynamic vehicle design for minimal turbulence
- Multiple levels of redundancy built in for safe operations at all speeds
- Final safety approval anticipated in Germany for commercial operations
- Prior evaluation and safety analysis by the US Department of
Transportation accepted Transrapid for deployment in Orlando, Florida in 1992
The Transrapid is suitable for transporting goods as well. For high-speed cargo transport, special cargo sections can be combined with passenger sections or assembled to form dedicated cargo trains (payload up to 18 tons per section). As the propulsion system is in the guideway, neither the length of the vehicle nor the payload affect the acceleration power.
If you would like more information about Maglev, visit the Transrapid International website or Maglev of Pennsylvania or the Baltimore-Washington Maglev Project