• 201dberg@lemmygrad.ml
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    2 days ago

    No, highspeed trains are tradition trains using wheels. They just go really fast but start to hit a hard cap around 400kph where wind resistance becomes so great that it becomes harder and harder to overcome. Maglevs on the other hand are far more efficient at extreme speeds. Maglevs can get up to like 500+kph now.

    • knfrmity@lemmygrad.ml
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      1 day ago

      Wouldn’t air resistance pose a similar problem for wheeled trains and maglev? Or is it the air resistance of the wheels and supporting structure itself that creates the difference?

      • 201dberg@lemmygrad.ml
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        23 hours ago

        I think it’s easier to design maglevs to be more aerodynamic but also the lack of needing wheels at all is a big deal. Basically high speed rails are far more efficient at lower speeds but require far more energy at high speeds specifically because of the limitations of wheels and friction based propulsion.

        Maglevs are far less efficient at low speeds due to the energy requirements of the magnetic levitation, but at high speeds beat out the rails because they just glide over the tracks and are propelled by fucking magic and no moving parts.

        This is how I understand it. Deepseek told me. lol