September 2, 2010

Riding the Maglev



One exciting experience when going to Shanghai is the chance to ride the Shanghai Transrapid - the first commercial high speed (magnetic levitation) rail line in the world.  


The line connects Pudong International Airport to downtown Shanghai (at Longyang Station, Line 2). With a top speed of 431 kph, it can whisk passengers the 31km distance to and from the airport in 7 minutes, although I only noticed that it topped at 301 kph.




Fare is 50 RMB for the economy class, 40RMB if the passenger has an airline ticket; VIP passes would cost 100RMB. The service is open until 9:40 pm, and trains leave every 15 minutes (20 minutes after 7pm)



pics, from above: the maglev train arriving at Longyang Station; inside the cabin; the highest speed the train reached during the 7-minute trip

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Saw your post at SSC, nice pictures!

BTW, according to the official website, max operational speed is indeed set to be different:

http://www.smtdc.com/en/jszl1_2.asp

Kin Enriquez said...

thanks for visit the blog :)

301 is fast enough for me though. although I wanted it to go more than 400+ kph!