Train without wheels nears journey’s end in the country that pioneered it

Confirming that the Lathen facility will be shut down shortly,officials of the German Federal Foreign Office,however,maintain that the move has nothing to do with the lack of acceptability the technology has within Germany. “We are of the view that all the research works at the Lathen facility have been completed and that the test facility is no longer required,” said Thomas Pfanne,desk officer (science, technology,innovation) at the Federal Foreign Office.

The costs involved in sustaining the Lathen test facility are also being viewed as a reason behind its proposed closure. As per German government officials,the plan is to raze the entire test facility,located roughly 550 km west of Berlin,and restore the land to its original condition.

Despite the denial,the undercurrents of resistance against the project are palpable. Some of this resistance,sources said,stems from the fact that Germans are still to reconcile with deaths of 23 people in September 2006 when a Transrapid Maglev collided with a maintenance vehicle on the Lathen test tracks.

“It was a case of pure human error. Somebody manning the controls failed to notice that the maintenance vehicle was already on the tracks before allowing the Maglev to run,” an official at the Transrapid Testcentre told The Indian Express.

“But,” he added,“despite such a high impact collision,it did not derail. This is the power of this technology.”

A small roadside memorial for those killed stands beside the test tracks.

The fact that Germany has failed to set up the project commercially has meant that it has always been viewed with circumspection the world over. A plan to to set up a Maglev link between Munich’s airport and train station was aborted in 2008. Many proposed Transrapid projects,including an ambitious one between Hamburg and Berlin,have failed to take off primarily because of the high costs involved.

The Shanghai Transrapid in China is the world’s only high-speed Maglev system working commercially. Commissioned in 2004,it travels the 30 km between Long Yang Road Station in Shanghai to the Pudong International Airport in under eight minutes.

German authorities say that countries like Brazil and Spain are actively considering setting up Maglev systems. “We will host a Spanish team in December and are hopeful that they will go for this technology,” a Transrapid official said.

Work on shutting down the Lathen test facilty is expected to begin sometime in early 2012. The site has seen nine versions of the Transrapid Maglev roll out so far and its imminent fate has pained those working at the facility. “It is like allowing a dream to die,” one of them says.

(The correspondent was part of an international delegation hosted by the German government)

The Maglev

Hovers instead of rolling,without any contact with track

500 kph is the maximum possible speed

Electronic components rather than mechanical; electromagnetic levitation and drive system. Magnets pull the vehicle from below towards the track,guidance magnets keep it laterally on track

Electronic control system ensures that clearance between vehicle and track is always constant

No rails,wheels or axles; no friction; wear and tear minimal,bringing down operating and maintenance costs

Just cannot derail,say promoters of such systems,since the vehicle wraps around the guideway