Digging through some old paperwork, when I flew from Birmingham fairly frequently, put me in mind of the Maglev link – presumably long gone. Why did Maglev not succeed here, commercially? At least I presume it didn’t or we would see evidence of it. As far as I know the Japanese successfully applied the technology, but seemingly no where else. Any thoughts?
By: hunterxf382 - 23rd September 2011 at 17:52
One of the orignal Maglev units from BHX was sold on ebay not that long ago, but not after some scammer ruined the attempt by ridiculous bidding:
Sad to see the state it was on resting on a forgotten plot of land within the airport boundary:
I used it when it first opened, and was rather impressed with it all. Sadly it had an awful reputation with reliability which was it’s ultimate demise – only to be replaced with the current cable-pulled system which does at least work more reliably 🙁
The modern AirRail link uses the previous concrete pillars and track bed of the Maglev so at least some of it remains 😉
By: Sky High - 22nd September 2011 at 19:39
Oh, dear………..
By: Grey Area - 22nd September 2011 at 18:00
Alas, it seems that the current transit system at BHX is cable-hauled, and not a Maglev at all. 🙁
By: Sky High - 22nd September 2011 at 17:30
As it always did – that is good to hear. But that I did not know, that it was thirsty for the juice! Shame.
By: Grey Area - 22nd September 2011 at 17:22
It was still working the last time I was at BHX, linking the NEC and railway station with the terminal buildings.
And there’s always the Shanghai Transrapid, connecting Pudong Airport with the city at speeds in excess of 260 mph.
I think the rather impresssive amounts of electricity it consumes might be part of the reason that the technology isn’t in more widespread use.
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September 22, 2011 at 12:46 pm