# Why Maglev is (Basically) Impossible ![[images/Why-Maglev-is-Basically-Impossible.webp]] **Creator:** The B1M · **Published:** 2026-04-15 · **Length:** 18:12 · [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WICVlQOb09o) > Caption source: YouTube English (United Kingdom) manual captions via the **TubeAlfred** connector (`youtube_video_transcript`, `en-GB`, manual, 219 timed segments) after yt-dlp subtitle download was blocked ("Sign in to confirm you're not a bot"). Figures and spellings (**700 kph** in **2 seconds**, **one-tonne** sled; CRRC 600 **600 kph**; L0 Series due Tokyo–Nagoya from **2025**; **six** commercial maglevs; Shanghai **431 kph** capable, capped at **300 kph** (**2021**), average **224 kph**; first commercial maglev **1984**, Birmingham Airport, **42 kph**; EMS gap **8–12 mm**; CRRC 600 test track **1.5 km** at **Tongji University**; **50,000+ km** of high-speed rail **2010–2024**; Chūō Shinkansen work began **2014**, **438 km** in **67 minutes** vs **2.5 hours**; SCMaglev coils **–269°C**; **4×** energy for **2×** speed; **100 m** porous tunnel-boom buffer; **42** fewer passengers per car; every **10** vs **3** minutes; passengers **2035** at the earliest) cross-checked with The B1M's companion article, [Maglev is unlikely to ever happen](https://theb1m.com/video/why-maglev-is-basically-impossible) (byline **Ian Parkin**, 15 April 2026), which adds that the **700 kph** record was set in **2025** by China's **National University of Defense Technology**, that Shanghai's line runs from **Pudong International Airport** to **Longyang Road** station, and that the Chūō line will relieve the **Tokaido Shinkansen** (note: the article attaches the 438 km figure to Tokyo–Nagoya; the video correctly frames it as the whole Tokyo–Nagoya–Osaka trip). Interviewee **Jon Shaw** is captioned on screen as Head of School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences (University of Plymouth). YouTube chapters used for section headings; they line up with the captions. Screenshots from the 720p stream (format 136). Host **Fred Mills**. Contains paid promotion for **Brilliant** (30-day free trial and 20% off annual Premium — link in description); description also promotes Fred's book ***Mega Builds*** (pre-order). Additional footage/images: CGTN, ShanghaiEye, New China TV, BBC, Al Jazeera, West Midlands County Council, British Rail, Northeast Maglev, MagnetSchnellbahn Berlin–Hamburg, SMT, Evan J, CRRC Corporation, Skywalker218, Central Japan Railway Company. ## Outline ### 0:00 700kph - **0:07** A maglev test in **China** has just smashed a world record: a **one-tonne** sled shot to **700 kph** in just **two seconds** — just under the cruising speed of a commercial aircraft (companion: set in **2025** by the **National University of Defense Technology**). - **0:22** Early days, but it could make China a world leader in ultra-fast ground transport; it's so powerful the Chinese military may even use it to **launch jets from aircraft carriers**. - **0:37** It comes a few years after the **CRRC 600** "floated off the production line" — China's first domestically produced maglev, rated at **600 kph**, just shy of the record holder, **Japan's L0 Series**. - **0:56** "The race for the ultra fast transport revolution is on. Or is it?" — archive montage of decades of maglev hype ("The near future is on maglev"; "as if there's a magnetic river flowing along there"). - **1:19** "Have the wheels come off the maglev dream?" The L0 Series should have been flinging people between **Tokyo** and **Nagoya** since **2025**; instead it shuttles on a short **test track in the Japanese Alps**, still a prototype — ambitions for service in **five years**. - **1:45** The big question: is maglev even possible — and if it's the wonder technology of the future, why does the future never arrive? ![[images/Why-Maglev-is-Basically-Impossible-t0008.webp]] ![[images/Why-Maglev-is-Basically-Impossible-t0043.webp]] ![[images/Why-Maglev-is-Basically-Impossible-t0070.webp]] ![[images/Why-Maglev-is-Basically-Impossible-t0098.webp]] ### 2:01 Shanghai - **2:02** The **Shanghai Maglev Train** — longest and fastest of the **six** maglevs in commercial operation worldwide — and yet "a bit… underwhelming." - **2:14** It runs from **Shanghai Airport** (Pudong) to the city's outskirts (companion: **Longyang Road**), where most riders change to the metro — but the metro also serves the airport, so most people just use that. - **2:33** Technically capable of **431 kph**; capped at **300 kph** a few years ago; average speed just **224 kph** — slower than a high-speed train. - **2:52** Not an early prototype: the first commercial maglev opened in **1984** at **Birmingham Airport**, UK, at "a bracing" **42 kph**. - **3:15** Over the next two decades the technology was refined and Germany's **Transrapid** became the go-to design (archive: "Welcome on board the Transrapid 08… enjoy your flight at ground level"). ![[images/Why-Maglev-is-Basically-Impossible-t0125.webp]] ![[images/Why-Maglev-is-Basically-Impossible-t0150.webp]] ![[images/Why-Maglev-is-Basically-Impossible-t0175.webp]] ![[images/Why-Maglev-is-Basically-Impossible-t0200.webp]] ### 3:28 EMS - **3:28** Transrapid uses **electromagnetic suspension (EMS)** — the *attractive* power of magnets — to levitate. - **3:38** The train's undercarriage loops beneath a concrete **guideway**; opposing magnets on both lift the train when current flows. Propulsion comes from a **linear motor**, a second set of magnets down the guideway's centre pushing the train along. - **3:57** No contact means no moving parts and **no wear** (massively reduced maintenance on guideway and vehicle) and **no friction** — in theory, speeds unimaginable even for high-speed trains. - **4:22** Comic segue into alignment design ("parameterise the alignment as a constrained 3D spline… minimise curvature and jerk under superelevation limits… Obviously."). - **4:44** Sponsor segment — **Brilliant**: thousands of lessons in maths, coding, AI and more; Fred is "really into **geometry** at the moment"; the **real-world algebra** course (controlling costs, discounts, comparing offers); 30 days free via QR code or brilliant.org/TheB1M plus **20%** off annual Premium. Paid promotion through ~**6:05**. - **6:05** "Now, back to floating trains." Despite its promise the Shanghai line made little impression (archive: Shanghai "setting new standards… the Transrapid super speed maglev system"). Ridership **flatlined** from the start — expensive, and it didn't go anywhere useful. "If you're a bit of a train nerd like me, you might be feeling a bit let down." ![[images/Why-Maglev-is-Basically-Impossible-t0215.webp]] ![[images/Why-Maglev-is-Basically-Impossible-t0235.webp]] ![[images/Why-Maglev-is-Basically-Impossible-t0250.webp]] ![[images/Why-Maglev-is-Basically-Impossible-t0395.webp]] ### 6:43 What Went Wrong? - **6:47** **Jon Shaw**: when building a maglev, step back and ask what problem you're actually trying to solve. - **6:55** Because maglev (or any rail) needs so much up-front infrastructure, any new line must sit within a broader **transport strategy**. - **7:10** Shaw: linking two big places more quickly is about making them function as a **single economic space** — unlocking investment, easing labour-market movement and connections — so "instead of one plus one equalling two… you're now getting one plus three equals four equals five." "We didn't know we needed a faster horse, until someone gave us a faster horse." - **7:47** After Shanghai opened in **2003**, interest in long-distance Transrapid took off: **Berlin–Hamburg**, **Shanghai–Hangzhou**, **Pittsburgh–Philadelphia**, **London–Glasgow** — serious proposals heralding the maglev revolution. "But then, they didn't." ![[images/Why-Maglev-is-Basically-Impossible-t0420.webp]] ![[images/Why-Maglev-is-Basically-Impossible-t0470.webp]] ### 8:18 Problems With Maglev - **8:19** EMS provides very little levitation: the Shanghai maglev floats just **8–12 mm** above the guideway; holding such fine tolerances over long distances is a massive construction challenge. - **8:40** The attractive force is **inherently unstable**: the magnet gap is constantly disrupted by small track deviations, electromagnetic-field fluctuations or even strong wind. If the gap grows, force weakens and the train drops; if it shrinks, force rises and the train is pulled onto the guideway — no force maintains equilibrium. - **9:20** At best a bumpy ride; at worst it could undermine the structure and safety of the system. - **9:28** Transrapid's **active control system** measures the gap **thousands of times a second** and adjusts the magnetic force — "easier said than done," and worse the faster the train goes (rider: "not as steady as the last bullet train I went on"). - **10:01** The ride was so bumpy that in **2021** Shanghai's speed was limited to **300 kph**. A **2026** paper in the *Journal of Railway Science and Technology* reviewed progress on excessive vibration — "a long way to go." - **10:22** Question mark over the **CRRC 600**: a homemade variation of Transrapid; so far only a **1.5 km** test track at **Tongji University**, so it hasn't been tested at sustained high speed. ![[images/Why-Maglev-is-Basically-Impossible-t0510.webp]] ![[images/Why-Maglev-is-Basically-Impossible-t0545.webp]] ![[images/Why-Maglev-is-Basically-Impossible-t0590.webp]] ![[images/Why-Maglev-is-Basically-Impossible-t0620.webp]] ### 10:47 High-Speed Rail Enters the Chat - **10:46** An even more fundamental problem — one not shared by rival **high-speed rail**. - **10:53** Shaw: HSR is proven technology that moves a lot of people very quickly, and where the high-speed line runs out the train can continue on a **classic line** — compatibility with the existing network. - **11:14** In the **2010s**, just as maglev proposals gained headway, HSR offered a trade-off: lower speed, greater integration. Between **2010** and **2024** more than **50,000 km** of HSR was built; the only maglevs built were **airport shuttles** or short **metro lines** (companion: e.g. **Incheon Airport Maglev**). - **11:38** "As cool as maglev was… high speed rail won out every time." The futuristic mode "met its end in a suburb just outside of Shanghai." ![[images/Why-Maglev-is-Basically-Impossible-t0660.webp]] ![[images/Why-Maglev-is-Basically-Impossible-t0700.webp]] ### 11:54 Japan - **11:54** "Or did it?" Japan "didn't get the memo": **Central Japan Railway Company** (JR Central) is building the **Chūō Shinkansen** — work began **2014**; the only long-distance maglev line under construction anywhere. - **12:18** When complete it will link **Tokyo**, **Nagoya** and **Osaka** — the whole **438 km** in **67 minutes**, vs **two and a half hours** on the bullet train. - **12:34** Japan sidestepped Transrapid's issues with a different system, **SCMaglev**: *repelling* force, hovering much higher above the guideway with no undercarriage looping beneath. - **12:55** The guideway is lined with vertically aligned magnetic coils interacting with oppositely configured magnets on the train to produce lift; unlike EMS it **passively** keeps the train centred — drift toward one side and rising force pushes it back. - **13:21** Each carriage carries four **superconducting** coils on either side, chilled by **liquid helium** to **–269°C**, so the field flows without resistance. - **13:46** Shaw: Japan has a very mature HSR network, but Tokyo–Osaka high-speed lines are **full**; another conventional HSR line would only relieve congestion. Maglev would (A) relieve the existing line, which becomes the "classic" line, (B) make the trip much quicker for economic benefits, and build a technology base **ready to export**. - **14:38** But for the economic payoff or export case, the numbers must add up — "far from guaranteed." ![[images/Why-Maglev-is-Basically-Impossible-t0730.webp]] ![[images/Why-Maglev-is-Basically-Impossible-t0765.webp]] ![[images/Why-Maglev-is-Basically-Impossible-t0790.webp]] ![[images/Why-Maglev-is-Basically-Impossible-t0820.webp]] ![[images/Why-Maglev-is-Basically-Impossible-t0860.webp]] ### 14:47 More Challenges - **14:48** Lower maintenance cuts operating bills, but energy use is colossal: SCMaglev needs **four times the energy** to run at **twice the speed** of a normal train. - **15:05** More specialist infrastructure beyond the guideway: **tunnel boom** — a train entering a tunnel pushes air through like a **piston**, exiting the far end as a **shockwave**. Chinese engineers developed a **100 m** porous, sound-absorbing buffer that diffuses it, "similar to a silencer on a pistol." - **15:37** Not insurmountable, but they raise the price of a system with **less capacity** than HSR: **L0 Series** cars are much smaller, carrying **42 fewer people per car**. - **15:54** Slower **switches** mean trains at best every **10 minutes** vs every **3 minutes** on the bullet train — costs go up as returns are squeezed. - **16:16** SCMaglev tech has been decades in the making — testing began long before the Chūō route was announced; construction is massively behind schedule, with passengers **2035** at the earliest, a decade after first announced — mainly due to the extensive **tunnels**, not the tech. ![[images/Why-Maglev-is-Basically-Impossible-t0905.webp]] ![[images/Why-Maglev-is-Basically-Impossible-t0950.webp]] ![[images/Why-Maglev-is-Basically-Impossible-t0975.webp]] ### 16:43 Is it Possible? - **16:44** Shaw: we tend to think of transport in purely technical terms — like **driverless cars** and whether the AI can cope with the road. In that sense ultra-fast maglev **is possible**; the question is whether it can be deployed at any meaningful scale. - **17:09** Over twenty years **China** has transformed its geography with high-speed rail, and its ability to build should never be underestimated — but maglev has a long way to go before rollout at scale. - **17:28** Shaw: Japan's SCMaglev looks like it could become the first commercially operating long-distance maglev; the big question is whether it becomes "the engine of an economy or just another piece of showpiece tech." - **17:44** Brilliant reminder; "if you… want to generally levitate your knowledge about all this stuff," subscribe to The B1M. ![[images/Why-Maglev-is-Basically-Impossible-t1010.webp]] ![[images/Why-Maglev-is-Basically-Impossible-t1040.webp]] ## Things mentioned ### Projects, lines and vehicles - **Chinese 700 kph maglev test sled** (one tonne, 0–700 kph in 2 s; 2025, National University of Defense Technology — possible carrier jet-launch use) - **CRRC 600** — China's first domestically produced maglev, **600 kph**; 1.5 km test track at Tongji University - **L0 Series** (Japan) — maglev speed record holder; Yamanashi test line in the Japanese Alps - **Shanghai Maglev Train** (2003) — Pudong Airport ↔ Longyang Road; 431 kph capable, 300 kph cap, 224 kph average - **Birmingham Airport maglev** (1984) — first commercial maglev, 42 kph - **Transrapid** (German EMS design; Transrapid 08 / 09; Emsland Test Facility per companion) - **Chūō Shinkansen** (Tokyo–Nagoya–Osaka, 438 km in 67 min; work began 2014; passengers 2035 at earliest) - **Tokaido Shinkansen** / Japanese bullet train (2.5 h Tokyo–Osaka; trains every 3 minutes) - Unbuilt Transrapid proposals: **Berlin–Hamburg**, **Shanghai–Hangzhou**, **Pittsburgh–Philadelphia**, **London–Glasgow** - **Incheon Airport Maglev** (companion — example of short airport links) ### Technologies and concepts - **EMS (electromagnetic suspension)** — attraction, 8–12 mm gap, inherently unstable, active gap control thousands of times a second - **SCMaglev** — superconducting, repulsion-based, passively centring; liquid helium cooling to –269°C - **Linear motor** propulsion; guideways; maglev switches (slow → 10-minute headways) - **Tunnel boom** (piston effect, shockwave) and a **100 m** porous sound-absorbing buffer - Excessive vibration at speed (2026 *Journal of Railway Science and Technology* review) - High-speed rail network compatibility (running onto classic lines) - Agglomeration — linking cities into a "single economic space"; congestion relief; technology export - Driverless cars / AI (analogy) - Alignment optimisation (constrained 3D spline, curvature, jerk, superelevation — sponsor segue) ### Places - **China** — Shanghai, Pudong, Longyang Road, Hangzhou, Tongji University - **Japan** — Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, Japanese Alps (Yamanashi) - **UK** — Birmingham Airport, London, Glasgow - **Germany** — Berlin, Hamburg, Emsland - **USA** — Pittsburgh, Philadelphia - **South Korea** — Incheon (companion) ### Organisations and companies - The B1M / Fred Mills (host); Ian Parkin (companion byline) - **University of Plymouth** — Jon Shaw - **CRRC Corporation**; **National University of Defense Technology**; **Tongji University** - **Central Japan Railway Company** (JR Central) - **Transrapid** (German maglev consortium) - **Brilliant** (paid promotion) - Footage: CGTN, ShanghaiEye, New China TV, BBC, Al Jazeera, West Midlands County Council, British Rail, Northeast Maglev, MagnetSchnellbahn Berlin–Hamburg, SMT, Evan J, Skywalker218, Central Japan Railway Company ### Figures and facts - **700 kph** in **2 s** (one-tonne sled); CRRC 600 **600 kph**; Shanghai **431 / 300 / 224 kph** - **6** maglevs in commercial operation worldwide; first commercial maglev **1984** (**42 kph**) - EMS gap **8–12 mm**; Shanghai speed cap from **2021** - **50,000+ km** of high-speed rail built **2010–2024** - Chūō Shinkansen: **438 km**, **67 min** (vs **2.5 h**); begun **2014**; passengers **≥2035** - SCMaglev: **–269°C** coils; **4×** energy for **2×** speed; **42** fewer passengers per car; every **10** vs **3** minutes - Tunnel-boom buffer **100 m** ## Biographies ### Fred Mills Co-founder and on-camera host of **The B1M**. Presents this investigation with self-described "train nerd" enthusiasm and humour (the spline-optimisation gag, "levitate your knowledge"), walks through the Shanghai Maglev, EMS and its instability, high-speed rail's rise and Japan's SCMaglev, and presents the mid-video **Brilliant** sponsor segment. The description also promotes his book ***Mega Builds***. ### Jon Shaw Professor of Transport Geography and Head of the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences at the **University of Plymouth** (on-screen caption and university profile), "an expert in where people go and how they get there." His research covers the geography of transport, travel and mobility, including rail privatisation and HS2 (co-author of *Sorry for any Inconvenience Caused: Why Britain Messed up High Speed Rail*, 2025) and the book *Towards Transport Net Zero* (2025). In the video he argues any maglev must fit a broader transport strategy that makes linked cities a single economic space, explains high-speed rail's advantage of running onto classic lines, sets out why Japan — with full Tokyo–Osaka HSR lines — is pursuing SCMaglev for congestion relief, speed and export, and concludes that ultra-fast maglev is technically possible but its real test is deployment at meaningful scale. ### Ian Parkin (The B1M) Byline on The B1M companion article *[Maglev is unlikely to ever happen](https://theb1m.com/video/why-maglev-is-basically-impossible)* (15 April 2026). The article credits the 700 kph record to China's National University of Defense Technology (2025), names Shanghai's Longyang Road terminus, the Emsland Test Facility and the Incheon Airport Maglev, notes the Chūō line's role relieving the Tokaido Shinkansen, and corroborates the video's figures on EMS gap, HSR growth, energy use, capacity and delays. ### Brilliant Paid video sponsor — an interactive online learning platform with lessons in maths, coding, AI and more (Fred highlights geometry and the real-world algebra course); offered with a 30-day free trial and 20% off an annual Premium subscription.