Infrastructures – Transrapid

1850 – 1939: From Concept to Patent. "From the beginning, a desire for higher speeds and reduced travel times drove the search for new transportation systems," Wahl explains. Engineers have been working on alternatives to wheel-and-track system since the mid-19th century because no one believed that conventional systems would ever overcome their friction losses and risk of derailment at high speeds. Concepts that involved the elimination of contact between a train and its track generated tremendous interest. "Flying at zero altitude" became the motto of the day. Hermann Kemper, a German electrical engineer, is considered to be the father of maglev rail. In 1922, Kemper began a research project that culminated in a 1934 patent for a "levitation train without wheels, propelled along iron tracks by a magnetic field." World War II interrupted further development, though, and Kemper did not resume his research until the 1950s.

1965 – 1977: Prototypes and Competing Technologies. In 1965, Kemper joined forces with Munich-based Krauss Maffei and Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB) and within only a few years the companies had used advances in control technologies to build the first maglev prototypes. In 1970 and 1971 they presented the world's first levitation train: the Transrapid 01.

A number of socio-economic conditions favored this rapid development. The 1960s were marked by tremendous enthusiasm for high-speed rail, as a dramatic increase in private automobile use had begun to generate the first major traffic jams on streets and highways. The technically outmoded and underfinanced conventional rail systems seemed an unlikely solution to the problem. Moreover, travellers were prepared to pay higher prices for higher speeds. In 1969, the German Ministry of Transportation responded to this demand by commissioning a comprehensive study of rapid-rail systems. By 1972 the consensus was clear: A new high-speed transportation system was urgently needed to close the "speed gap" between air travel and conventional rail.

A publicly financed research program was then launched to simultaneously explore various possible solutions. Krauss Maffei and MBB focused on an electromagnetic levitation system (EMS), while AEG-Telefunken, BBC and Siemens explored electrodynamic levitation (EDS). A special facility was established in Erlangen, Germany to test competing concepts. The electromagnetic EET 01 train developed by MAN was tested in 1974. EDS, on the other hand, was a much more complex technology because it was based on superconduction, which had not yet been fully developed. "So it wasn't surprising," recalls Wahl, "that the EMS system was given the nod in 1977 for further research and development, which was conducted jointly."

1978: Heading for Commercialization. Transrapid's first runs caused a sensation at the 1979 International Transportation Exhibition in Hamburg. There, a special track was set up that eventually transported 50,000 passengers. But the train still lacked a large-scale test facility. Furthermore, political and financial difficulties, along with design problems, sidelined the trains for 17 years between the initial announcement of a large-scale test facility and completion of the test site in Emsland. It wasn't until 1988 that the Transrapid was able to set a new world speed record of 412.6 km/h in Emsland. That didn't surprise Hans Georg Raschbichler, managing director of Transrapid International (currently known as the Siemens and ThyssenKrupp consortium). "Transrapid was always a political project, and support for its development fluctuated a great deal with changing governments," he recalls.

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s the original public enthusiasm for the maglev train also diminished considerably, especially after the successes experienced by high-speed conventional trains, such as the German ICE, France's TGV and the Shinkansen in Japan.

Nevertheless, by 1991 Transrapid had reached what engineers call "technical readiness," meaning that the system's reliability could be demonstrated in normal service. Fifty potential lines for maglev rail were soon identified worldwide, both long-distance routes providing fast and economical connections between major cities, and local rail lines with heavy transport requirements, such as airport connections.

Transrapid's day finally arrived on December 31, 2002. China's Prime Minister and the German Chancellor were on hand for its maiden journey, a 33-km route connecting Shanghai with Pudong airport. The route was officially opened at a speed of 431 km/h less than two years after the contracts had been signed. Wahl recalls how it felt to travel in the world's fastest train on its first trip. "I was very happy and proud that the first run was so successful," he says.

Regularly scheduled service will begin in Shanghai in 2004, with 10 million passengers expected to be transported that year, and 20 million projected for 2010. Furthermore, Prime Minister Zhu Rongji has announced plans to extend the high-speed line to Hangzhou and Nanjing. Both Zhu Rongji and Siemens CEO Heinrich v. Pierer are confident that the Transrapid has a promising future in China.

Germany is also pushing ahead toward realization of planned lines in Bavaria (the Munich airport connection) and North Rhein-Westphalia (the Dortmund-Düsseldorf Metrorapid). Additional private venture capital from the companies involved in developing and building Transrapid will ensure that the future of "the train without wheels" will no longer be up in the air.

L uitgard Marschall