Will Maglevs replace conventional trains?
Provided maglev can be proved to be commerciably viable (which has not yet been done) it should be a success. Most people have their eyes on Germany, where the first maglevs will run in commercial service. This may decide whether or not maglevs will be used across the world. Maglev may become the preferred path for new high speed railway lines although it would depend whether or not services were needed to stretch beyond a high speed line. For example, if you have 300km of conventional track between two cities cleared for over 200km/h but there was a 60km long section only cleared for 80km/h then it would make sense to build a new high speed (300km/h) line for the 60km distance. If a maglev train were to be used a track 300km long would have to be built. However if there is no existing rail network (only the case in the USA) then it makes sense to build a maglev line. Whether or not new railway lines stopped being built in favour of maglevs, one thing is certain, there is 31932km of tr
