What makes a Bullet Train so fast?

The main different options for planes are feet, autos, transports, watercrafts and routine prepares however they are just too moderate for today's quick paced society. Notwithstanding, there is another type of transportation that could alter transportation of the 21st century the way planes did in the 20th century that are the Bullet trains or the Maglev trains. Maglev trains got their name from their operating principle that is magnetic levitation.

Principle of Operation

Magnetic levitation means that the train is rose from the ground using magnets. No overhead power cables because the power source is built into the track. There’s no friction from the wheels because there aren’t any wheels! The train is suspended on a magnetic cushion above a magnetized track and so travel free of friction. Trains are designed to float 100 mm above the track so the only resistance it has is air resistance which makes the train very fast,

Working

Maglev trains are all about magnets and magnets have a south and north pole. When magnets of same poles are brought face to face they repel. The Japanese maglev trains use this repulsion to lift themselves on the track. Hence the train rests on the repulsive force as if it’s sitting on an invisible cushion. Speed reached is approx. 590 km per hour. This technology has been confined only to test tracks. While the German Maglev trains use the attractive force of the magnets. But there’s no use of a train sticking to its track. So the trick to hover the train on the tracks is use of electromagnets

(Electromagnet- It is a coil of wire through which electricity passes causing a magnetic field to be produced. No friction as the train hovers above the ground)

If electromagnets are switched on and off very rapidly, we can defeat gravity attracting and dropping so quickly that a metal objects will hover. There are massive electromagnets that sit under the track and when the power is switched on, the magnets are attracted to the track causing the whole train to float 10 mm above the track.

A separate system of magnets which are called the guide magnets is built into the track to create a moving magnetic field that pushes the train along with it and this makes the system very effective. Hence guide magnets control propulsion. The vehicle is propelled by interaction of magnetic forces between its on board magnets and the magnetic coils on the sides of the guide way. So for the train to move the tracks need to be energized by just switching on the power.

The magnetized coil running along the track, called a guide way, repels the large magnets on the train's undercarriage, allowing the train to levitate above the guide way. Once the train is levitated, power is supplied to the coils within the guide way walls to create a unique system of magnetic fields that pull and push the train along the guide way. The electric current supplied to the coils in the guide way walls is constantly alternating to change the polarity of the magnetized coils. This change in polarity causes the magnetic field in front of the train to pull the vehicle forward, while the magnetic field behind the train adds more forward thrust.

How does it stop?

Maglev train doesn't have any wheels or break shoes as there is no friction at all and no connection with the ground. So to slow down or to stop the train the current is flown in the reversed direction or in the opposite direction, which causes retardation in the speed of the train and eventually brings it to rest.

Engineers are working to improve the maglev system to make the trains run a lot faster at a jaw dropping speed of 3500 km per hour.  This has been made possible in theory by making the train run on vacuum sheets. According to the theory the time required to reach Tokyo from London will be 3 and a half hours. 50 million euros per mile is an investment required to put a maglev system where the cost of manufacturing for the train is different. Hence it is a very costly affair for the government to look into!