Technik Museum Speyer Misuses Transrapid 04 as a Hotel Room
Since May 2022, the Technik Museum Speyer has been planning to completely gut its Transrapid 04 and turn it into a hotel room. This is reported by the design firm commissioned by the museum.
Good news! The museum has stopped this plan after it was heavily criticized. See: Technik Museum Speyer stops TR04 conversion into a hotel room (August 2, 2023)
Since May 2022, the Technik Museum Speyer in southwestern Germany has been planning to completely gut its Transrapid 04 and turn it into a hotel room. This is reported by the design firm commissioned by the museum.
The TR04 is the last prototype of Transrapid technology in which the drive was still built into the vehicle. All successors rely on long-stator linear motor technology, in which the drive is built into the guideway.
“In 1973, Krauss-Maffei unveiled the TR04. It was the largest and heaviest vehicle to date. In 1977 it reached a speed of 253.2 km/h. A new test track was built in Munich-Allach for the TR04.” (Excerpt from: Einführung in die Transrapid-Thematik)
Current condition of the TR04
The TR04 is in quite good condition: the outside still shines, and the entire original interior with 20 seats is still in place. In terms of condition, the vehicle could easily be restored and added to an exhibition.
What the hotel room is meant to look like
For the project, the historic interior is to be gutted.
Instead, the vehicle’s interior will be painted completely black and fitted with the following: two double beds, a couple of yellow hipster armchairs, cyberpunk-style LED lighting and mirrors along the entire ceiling.
Images can be viewed at this link. To avoid copyright conflicts, I am not embedding the images in this article.
Our opinion on this plan
We think it is outrageous to misuse the historic TR04 vehicle for conversion into a hotel room. The vehicle is of great historical significance for the development of the Transrapid and, even today, at 50 years old, is in remarkable condition.
Seeing such a “masterpiece of German engineering” wasted on creating a would-be modern hotel room is a real slap in the face for maglev “fans”.
The Technik Museum Speyer has not known for some time what to do with the TR04. It is constantly being repositioned, and it currently stands unprotected outdoors on a trailer, even though it was previously on public display in the hall.
Would you like to see Concorde or the Space Shuttle completely emptied out to install a double bed with LED lighting? Probably not.
We would gladly support the museum in bringing the TR04 into the exhibition or finding another location for the vehicle. But we think it is wrong to completely ruin the historic vehicle after it has already been moved outside, even though it had been standing inside, clean and dry.
