When I was in Shanghai, I had the chance to board the world’s fastest train, The Maglev train. Maglev actually means magnetic levitation where the train doesn’t use any wheels. It only moves based on magnetic levitation between the track and the train.
“High-speed maglev vehicles are lifted off their guideway and thus move more smoothly, quietly and require less maintenance than wheeled mass transit systems – regardless of speed” Source – Wikipedia
the station sign
waiting for the train
it arrives a few minutes later
The train runs between Longyang Road station nearby the Shanghai city and Pudong International airport. The journey from Longyang Road just took an amazing 8 minutes to reach the airport which was 30km away. The interval of every ride is 15 minutes.
seatings are comfortable
window view as soon as we left the station
With a top speed of 431km/h, it could trail an F1 racing car easily. However, during certain time period the train only tops at 301km/h. I was surprised that the train doesn’t feel that fast when you’re inside it. There’s an indicator showing how fast the train is currently traveling in every berth.
speed at 251km/h
reaches 301km/h
another window view
reaching the airport
Too bad at the time I was traveling it only tops at 301km/h. When another train from the opposite direction passed through beside us, it only lasted for about 2 seconds.
me and the Maglev
A one-way train ride cost me 50RMB and a return ticket would cost 80RMB. At Longyang Road station there is also a small maglev museum where it shows about the founder, the train, the history and others.
