Maglev trains float above the track using powerful magnets, eliminating wheel-on-rail contact at speed. The technology relies on either electromagnetic attraction or electrodynamic repulsion to lift the vehicle, while a linear motor built into the track or the train provides forward thrust.
While the concept is decades old, only a handful of systems have reached commercial operation. The technology faces stiff competition from conventional high-speed rail because of high infrastructure costs and higher energy use at very high speeds. This article explains how these trains work, where you can ride them today and what the energy data actually shows. For road transport, see our guide to electric vehicles.
How it works
A maglev train removes the need for wheels at speed. This is achieved through two main families of levitation technology: electromagnetic suspension (EMS) and electrodynamic suspension (EDS).
Electromagnetic suspension (EMS)
EMS systems use conventional electromagnets mounted on the underside of the vehicle. In the German Transrapid design, these magnets wrap around the edge of a steel guideway and are pulled upwards towards it from below. This attractive force is naturally unstable, so onboard electronics sample the gap roughly 100,000 times per second to adjust the current and keep the train stable.
The nominal air gap for the Transrapid is about 10 mm. Some sources give about 15 mm for EMS in general, while Japan’s HSST/Linimo system operates with a levitation gap of about 8 mm. Because EMS uses active electromagnets, the train can levitate even when stationary. The Transrapid sets down on support skids only below about 10 km/h during emergency braking.
Electrodynamic suspension (EDS)
EDS systems rely on repulsion. Instead of pulling the train up, they push it away from the track. Japan’s SCMaglev uses superconducting magnets made from a niobium-titanium alloy, cooled with liquid helium to about −269 °C. As the train passes at speed, these magnets induce currents in coils embedded in the guideway side walls. The induced fields repel and guide the train’s magnets, lifting it and keeping it centred.
Because lift is induced by motion, EDS trains need wheels at low speeds. JR Central says the SCMaglev switches from wheels to levitation above about 150 km/h (93 mph), while a Japanese government feature puts it at roughly 160 km/h. Once levitating, the SCMaglev floats about 10 cm above the guideway, roughly ten times the gap of an EMS system. A variant of EDS called Inductrack uses permanent magnets arranged in a Halbach array. It lifts off at a few km/h, so it needs auxiliary wheels only at rest or in stations.
Propulsion: linear motors
Both EMS and EDS systems use linear motors for propulsion. A linear motor is essentially an electric motor that has been “unrolled” flat. Instead of turning a shaft, it produces straight-line thrust.
High-speed systems like the Transrapid and SCMaglev are guideway-powered. The Transrapid uses a long-stator linear synchronous motor (LSM), with the stator windings laid along the guideway. Powering the windings creates a travelling magnetic field that pulls the train along. The same motor handles acceleration and normal braking by acting as a generator.
Lower-speed urban systems, such as Japan’s Linimo, use linear induction motors (LIM). These are carried on the vehicle and act on a simple reaction rail in the track. A 2004 US Federal Transit Administration report found this keeps the guideway simple and cheap, but efficiency is lower, and the heavier onboard equipment limits LIM systems to about 200–250 km/h.
Real-world examples
As of 2022, Railway Gazette counted six commercial maglev systems in operation, five of them low-speed urban lines. Shanghai was the only high-speed line, and as of March 2026 China had no other commercial high-speed maglev.
Shanghai Maglev (China)
Opened with an inaugural run on 31 December 2002 and entering full commercial service in 2003–04, the Shanghai Maglev serves Pudong Airport. It is about 30 km long with a design top speed of 430 km/h.
Sources conflict on its current operating speed. It is widely reported to have run at 300 km/h since May 2021, though China’s Science and Technology Daily in March 2026 still described the line as running at up to 430 km/h. The line cost about 10 billion yuan (approximately US$1.2–1.33 billion). The UK Department for Transport said in 2007 that Shanghai’s costs were three times higher than equivalent high-speed rail lines.
Linimo / Tobu Kyuryo Line (Japan)
Opened on 6 March 2005, just before Expo 2005, Linimo is Japan’s first commercial maglev. It runs about 8.9 km with a maximum speed of 100 km/h. The project cost ¥103 billion. It handles steep gradients (6%) and tight curves (75 m radius).
Incheon Airport Maglev (South Korea)
South Korea described itself as the third country to commercialise maglev when this 6.1 km line began operation on 3 February 2016. It runs at 110 km/h. Service was suspended from July 2022 after ridership collapsed during the pandemic. Incheon City reported that it resumed on 17 October 2025, reclassified so that it no longer runs as a metropolitan railway, with schedules set flexibly according to demand.
Changsha Maglev Express and Beijing Line S1 (China)
Changsha’s Maglev Express opened on 6 May 2016. It runs 18.55 km at up to 100 km/h and cost 150–250 million yuan per km, against up to 800 million yuan per km for subways, according to the builder CRRC. Beijing’s Line S1 opened on 30 December 2017, running 10.2 km with a design maximum of 100 km/h.
Chuo Shinkansen (Japan)
JR Central is building the Chuo Shinkansen, a superconducting maglev line between Tokyo and Nagoya, later Osaka. Its SCMaglev holds the world speed record for a manned train, 603 km/h (374 mph), set in April 2015 on the Yamanashi test line. The planned commercial speed is 500 km/h. The original opening target of 2027 has been missed; in October 2025 the line was expected to open in 2036 at the earliest. The Shinagawa–Nagoya cost estimate rose to about ¥11 trillion in October 2025, driven mainly by materials, labour and difficult construction.
China’s 600 km/h programme
CRRC unveiled a 600 km/h EMS-type maglev in July 2021. That is a design speed, not demonstrated in commercial service. In June 2025, a 1.1-tonne test vehicle reached 650 km/h over about 600 m of a 1 km test track. In December 2025, Chinese state media reported a superconducting test vehicle reaching 700 km/h within two seconds on a 400 m test line. These are short-track sled tests, not passenger train operations.
What the numbers say
Energy consumption
A peer-reviewed 2018 study by Eckert and colleagues provides a detailed comparison of energy use. Measured per square metre of usable floor area, wheel-rail trains use 35–60 Wh/m²/km, while maglev systems use 50–110 Wh/m²/km.
Standardised to a train of 500 m² floor area, the Transrapid uses 26 kWh/km at 330 km/h, compared with 22 kWh/km for a TGV Duplex at 320 km/h and 23 kWh/km for an ICE 3 at 330 km/h. At 430 km/h, the Transrapid uses 36 kWh/km, and the Chuo Shinkansen at 500 km/h uses 85 kWh/km, roughly three to four times the TGV and ICE figures. The authors note the Chuo data came largely from Japanese sources they could not fully verify.
The authors conclude that up to about 330 km/h, no system has a significant energy advantage per unit of floor area, and that maglev consumes roughly 10–15% more than comparable wheel-rail trains at 330 km/h. They also warn that per-seat comparisons are distorted by seat density and train dimensions, which is why promotional claims of maglev being “30% more efficient” do not hold up. Energy use rises steeply at higher speeds because aerodynamic drag dominates: power required rises roughly with the cube of speed, so travelling at 400 km/h takes about 2.37 times the power of travelling at 300 km/h.
Japanese government figures from 2011 assume one SCMaglev train at 500 km/h draws about 35 MW. The same year, a government committee concluded that a conventional Shinkansen would have advantages in construction cost and energy consumption, in exchange for lower speed.
Cost and construction
Maglev requires entirely new guideways and cannot share existing track. The Shanghai Maglev cost about US$40 million per km; the Chuo Shinkansen’s Tokyo–Nagoya section is estimated at about ¥11 trillion.
Comparison with air travel
A 2017 Japanese government feature claims SCMaglev uses half the energy of air travel, but it publishes no method. For conventional high-speed rail, JR Central’s 2024 report calculates that on the Tokyo–Osaka route an N700 Shinkansen uses about 90 MJ per seat, against 746 MJ per seat for a Boeing 777-200 (about one-eighth). CO2 is 4.2 kg per seat for the train versus 50 kg for the aircraft. Maglev has no exhaust at the point of use, but its emissions depend on the electricity supplying it; JR Central says about 95% of its CO2 comes indirectly from electricity use. You can see how Britain’s grid mix varies on our live GB electricity mix page.
Limitations / honest assessment
Maglev is not a universal solution. It is expensive to build because it requires dedicated infrastructure. The technology is incompatible with existing rail networks, so you cannot run a maglev train on standard tracks.
Reliability has been an issue for early systems: Birmingham’s maglev closed over obsolete electronics and spare parts, and Berlin’s M-Bahn ran only from 1989 to 1991.
Noise is another factor. While there is no wheel-rail rumble, high-speed maglev generates significant aerodynamic noise. JR Central uses noise barriers and train hoods to mitigate this.
Safety is generally high, but not perfect. A 2006 accident on the Emsland Transrapid test track in Germany killed 23 people. The track’s licence expired at the end of 2011.
The UK angle
The UK has a history with maglev. The Birmingham Airport Maglev was the world’s first maglev in public service. It ran 600 m between the station and the airport from 16 August 1984 to 18 June 1995. It was withdrawn because replacing worn parts was too expensive, and a cable-drawn shuttle later replaced it.
In 2005, a private proposal called UK Ultraspeed suggested a Transrapid line from London to Glasgow. The 2007 white paper Delivering a Sustainable Railway rejected the idea, stating that maglevs on inter-urban routes “are too expensive to provide value for money”. It said the promoters’ £29 billion estimate, excluding land, could be of the order of £60 billion, and cited higher energy consumption, aerodynamic noise and technical risks in scaling up. The promoters stopped promoting the scheme in early 2013, and the UK chose conventional high-speed rail in HS2. For shorter everyday trips, see our guide to electric bikes and scooters.
Frequently asked questions
How do maglev trains float and move?
Maglev trains float using either electromagnetic attraction (EMS) or electrodynamic repulsion (EDS). They move using a linear motor, an electric motor unrolled flat to produce straight-line thrust instead of rotation. On high-speed systems the motor is built into the guideway, creating a travelling magnetic field that pulls the vehicle forward.
What is the difference between EMS and EDS maglev?
EMS (electromagnetic suspension) uses active electromagnets that are attracted upwards towards a steel guideway. It has a small gap (about 10 mm on the Transrapid) and can levitate while stationary. EDS (electrodynamic suspension), as used by Japan’s SCMaglev, uses superconducting magnets to repel the train away from the guideway. It has a larger gap (about 10 cm) and needs motion to generate lift, so it runs on wheels below about 150 km/h.
Do maglev trains use less energy than high-speed rail or planes?
Not compared with high-speed rail. Up to about 330 km/h, a 2018 peer-reviewed study found maglev uses similar or 10–15% more energy than wheel-rail high-speed trains, and at 500 km/h roughly three to four times as much per unit of floor area. Japanese government material claims SCMaglev uses half the energy of air travel, without a published method.
Where can you ride a maglev train today?
You can ride the Shanghai Maglev in China (high-speed), and Linimo in Japan and the Changsha and Beijing Line S1 lines in China (low-speed). In South Korea, the Incheon Airport Maglev resumed in October 2025. Japan’s Chuo Shinkansen is expected to open in 2036 at the earliest.
What is the fastest maglev train?
The world speed record for a manned train is 603 km/h (374 mph), set by Japan’s SCMaglev in 2015. Shanghai’s Maglev is designed for 430 km/h; it is widely reported to have run at 300 km/h since 2021, although Chinese state media still described it as running at up to 430 km/h in 2026. Chinese test vehicles have reached 650 km/h and 700 km/h in short-track sled tests.
Has Britain ever had a maglev train?
Yes. The Birmingham Airport Maglev operated from 1984 to 1995. It was the world’s first maglev in public service. A private proposal for a London–Glasgow line (UK Ultraspeed) was rejected by the government in 2007.