Correcting the False Information About the Transrapid Published by ARD Tagesschau on October 27, 2023

– The operators of the line allegedly reduced the speed to save costs.
➡️ The speed was reduced to 300 km/h to relieve Shanghai’s overloaded power grid during the pandemic. Shanghai is a metropolis of millions that has grown exponentially in recent decades. The power grid is struggling with this, which is why the maximum speed on the SMT line was capped. The speed was temporarily set back to 430 km/h. In terms of cost, there is no huge difference between 300 and 430 km/h, since on the short line the speed is held for only a few seconds. Moreover, despite the lower speed, there is no noticeable loss of travel time: 7:18 min vs. 8:00 min.

– The Transrapid in Shanghai is allegedly uneconomical and makes heavy losses. It is also claimed that demand for the Transrapid is very low.
➡️ The line in Shanghai is a demonstration line that never claimed to run profitably. The line connects the airport with the suburb of Longyang, so air passengers still have to get into the city center. That is why this line is so lightly used: air passengers board the metro directly to get into the city center. If they took the Transrapid, they would have to change to the metro anyway. But the Tagesschau article does not take this into account. The Transrapid technology is blamed across the board. Not to mention that the 500 km/h Transrapid cannot even fully exploit its advantages on a line only 30 km long. Interestingly, the metro connections in Shanghai do not run profitably either, but nothing is reported about that in this case. ARD Tagesschau also does not mention that the timetable was changed in September 2023 due to increased demand (shorter headway).

– The plans for the new Chinese vehicles are allegedly unrealistic; the person asked about this was a professor with no Transrapid expertise. He also claims that the technology of the Chinese vehicles was never proven on test tracks.
➡️ That is not true at all. The vehicle “CRRC CF600“, presented in 2021 and based on German Transrapid technology, has been extensively tested since 2019 on the test track at Tongji University in Shanghai. In parallel, a 4-section vehicle is being tested and demonstrated on a 660 m test track at the research center in Qingdao. Doubts about the Transrapid technology, which has now been in continuous operation in Shanghai for 20 years and has covered nearly 25 million kilometers, are completely unfounded.

– Ticket prices are allegedly too high.
➡️ But the fact that the Transrapid takes only 7 instead of 45 minutes for the route is not even highlighted. Nor is the fact that the ride is significantly more comfortable.

– The line in Shanghai was supposed to be extended, which has not been realized so far.
➡️ The Chinese wanted to manufacture and further develop the technology domestically in order to carry out projects. They have succeeded, and construction preparations for the extension have already begun. For several years we have known that Chinese companies have taken over the technology, which was never commercially realized in Germany, and are now building their own vehicles.

– Maglev allegedly never caught on as a means of transport in China.
➡️ In China, countless! maglev trains are in commercial use, especially in local transport. Changsha, Beijing and many other lines have been in successful, continuous commercial operation for years.