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High-speed maglev from Germany

Transrapid

Levitating above its guideway at 500 km/h, the Transrapid can connect Germany's major cities in under two hours and bring Europe closer together as one network.

Explore the vision Calculate travel time
Image: Thyssenkrupp Transrapid
The idea

Flying without taking off

No wheel, no rail, no contact: the Transrapid levitates about 10 millimeters above its guideway.

The Transrapid is a maglev from Germany. Magnets keep it levitating and on track, and it is propelled by a linear motor in the guideway. Nothing rolls, nothing rubs. That is why it reaches 500 km/h, accelerates faster than any train and hardly wears out.

For decades it was tested at the test facility in Emsland, in northwestern Germany. Since 2003 it has run in daily passenger service in Shanghai. What is missing is its use where it was invented.

Today

The Transrapid in 2026

One line, running every day for more than two decades: proof that the technology works.

The Shanghai line links Pudong Airport with Longyang Road in about eight minutes. Its record operating speed is 431 km/h; since 2021 normal service has been capped at 300 km/h. An extension to Hangzhou was suspended, and no second Transrapid line has been built anywhere.

In Germany, projects between Berlin and Hamburg (2000) and in Munich (2008) were cancelled, and the Emsland test facility closed in 2011. The technology lives on in China, where CRRC develops a 600 km/h successor under licence. How it compares with other systems is shown on our technologies overview.

The Transrapid worldwide

Developer
Transrapid consortium (Siemens, ThyssenKrupp and others), Germany
Principle
Electromagnetic suspension (EMS), long-stator linear motor in the guideway
Levitation gap
about 10 mm
Speed record
501 km/h (Shanghai, test run); 450 km/h on the Emsland test track (TR07, 1993)
In service
Shanghai, about 30 km, since 2002; 300 km/h since 2021
Test facility
Emsland, 31.5 km, closed 2011, to be dismantled by 2034
Derivative
CRRC 600 km/h maglev, developed in China under licence
Status
One commercial line, no new project under construction
The vision

Germany in two hours. Europe in one network.

Imagine a network that connects all of Germany's major cities and continues across the borders: to Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, Zurich, Vienna, Prague, Warsaw and Copenhagen. On its own guideway, with no traffic jams, no track works, running on a regular timetable.

Tap a city and see how much closer the rest move.

17 min 29 min 17 min 22 min 24 min 22 min 22 min 18 min 20 min 24 min 32 min 29 min 11 min 8 min 8 min 9 min 25 min 25 min 30 min 30 min 25 min 25 min 36 min 18 min 27 min 44 min 29 min 29 min 40 min 1 h 10 min 27 min 53 min 1 h 15 min 20 min Hamburg Bremen Schwerin Berlin Hanover Magdeburg Münster Dortmund Essen Düsseldorf Cologne Kassel Leipzig Dresden Frankfurt Nuremberg Stuttgart Munich Amsterdam Brussels Paris Zurich Vienna Prague Warsaw Copenhagen
Core network GermanyLinks to Europe
Travel time from Hamburg

    A vision, not a plan: guide values for a direct run at 500 km/h. Route = straight-line distance × 1.15, plus 4 minutes for accelerating and braking. Tap a city.

    What changes

    What a Transrapid network makes possible.

    Domestic flights become unnecessaryHamburg–Munich in under two hours, from city center to city center, without check-in and security checks.
    Rail and road can breatheThe Transrapid runs on its own guideway. The rail network stays free for freight and regional services.
    Regions move closer togetherLive in the countryside, work in the metropolis: 200 kilometers become a short trip.
    Europe grows togetherParis, Vienna or Copenhagen become day-trip destinations. Germany becomes Europe's hub.
    Why Transrapid

    Faster, more economical, longer-lasting.

    In direct comparison with the ICE (Deutsche Bahn's high-speed train), the Transrapid needs less energy, requires less maintenance and reaches cruising speed much faster.

    Energy per seat at 300 km/h

    Transrapid
    ICE 3
    About one third less electricity per seat.

    Maintenance per seat-km

    Transrapid
    ICE 3
    About one third of the cost, because nothing rolls and nothing rubs.

    Distance to reach 300 km/h

    Transrapid
    ICE 3
    Up to speed in a quarter of the distance.

    Source: Schach, Jehle, Naumann: Transrapid und Rad-Schiene-Hochgeschwindigkeitsbahn (Transrapid and wheel-rail high-speed rail), Springer 2006, tables 5.14, 5.19, 5.40

    Go deeper

    Everything about the Transrapid.

    TechnologyTechnologyLevitating, guiding, propelling: how it works.HistoryHistoryFrom Hermann Kemper's idea in 1922 to today.RoutesRoutesShanghai, Emsland and the abandoned projects.Transrapid Test Facility Emsland (TVE)Transrapid Test Facility Emsland (TVE)The test track where everything was tried out.Vehicle overviewVehicle overviewAll vehicles from the TR01 to today.Fact checkFact checkCommon claims, put into perspective with sources.

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