Shanghai Maglev train

The theme letter for our ‪‎travel pics this week is R – for Railways.

For Tuesday, it’s a MagLev train in Shanghai.

MagLev, or Magnetic Levitation, involves using magnets of opposite polarity to allow a train to travel frictionlessly without actually touching the track – and using that magnetic repulsion to actually drive the train along the track.

The Shanghai is the fastest commercial train currently in operation and has a top speed of 430 km/h – although on the afternoon we took it, the train only reached 300km/hr. Only 300hm/hr! 🙂

Oh. And for most journeys, there’s no need for a driver – the train is entirely automated.