Greening grounds Maglev

Glad tidings from the Captain of the Netball Team...

Steven Baker (Wycombe, Conservative)
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment she has made of the potential of magnetic levitation technology for use in the next generation of high-speed trains.

Justine Greening (Economic Secretary, HM Treasury; Putney, Conservative)
Work by the Department for the 2007 White Paper, “Delivering a Sustainable Railway”, found that magnetic levitation technology would be significantly more expensive than high speed rail and would not enable trains to run seamlessly onto existing inter-city routes, serving a wider range of destinations.

The few instances of magnetic levitation systems in use around the world operate on a relatively short point-to-point basis and scaling the technology up to a national network is unproven.

There are no plans to further consider magnetic levitation as an alternative to a high speed rail network.

Good effort.

Big boys toys - the perfect gift

Whilst yesterday's railwaymen pootle about with kettles in their back gardens what should be the plaything of today's thrusting railway exec?

Eye has the perfect Christmas present idea for today's Young Professional!

One careful owner and British technology to boot!

MAGLEV FOR SALE - PLEASE GIVE GENEROUSLY TO RAISE MONEY FOR HELP FOR
HEROES/ACORNS AND SHARE WITH OTHERS

You know it makes sense!

UPDATE: This from a Mr Saltaire...

How and why on earth is this not in the National Collection???

This was the world’s first Maglev that was operated commercially, coming as it did from the genius brain of Professor Eric Laithwaite.

A true icon of British invention and worthy of a place in the NRM, let alone its parent, The Science Museum.

UPDATE:This from a Mr Hobbs...

With reference to the Birmingham Maglev, there is already a Birmingham Airport Maglev car in the NRM collection.

UPDATE: This from The Captain...

Birmingham MagLev did not come from the brain of Prof Laithwaite.

The only part of the system associated with the Prof's work was the linear motor propulsion.

The really clever stuff, including combining surrogate primary and secondary suspension characteristics in the microprocessor controlled lift magnets, was the result of a development programme by British Rail Research, which culminated in a working demonstrator...

This was commercialised for the Birmingham Airport MagLev by GEC and Brush.

Enough about moving things that don't involve contact with a running rail. T'is unnatural and probably the devils work. Ed

McMaglev

The Fact Compiler missed this story in the Sunday Times.

Fortunately it was picked up by Tom Harris.

On this issue Tom is spot on...