Aviva Brecher, a national transportation expert, said high speed, magnetic propelled "hovering" trains will be the future mode of transportation Thursday.
Brecher presented her lecture, "Bringing Magnetic Levitation Trains to USA: Technology and Policy Changes," at the UNM Continuing Education Center. She emphasized the numerous benefits for the community and the inevitable reality that the trains will be used in within the United States.
According to Brecher, the concept is that a train system similar to the current railroads system, only it would use non-contact magnetic forces for suspension, propulsion and guidance, leaving it floating above the track and propelling it much faster, safer and cleaner than any mode of transportation currently in use.
Brecher described the concept as "extremely high tech," with the entire train system being automated, unmanned and pre-programmed, increasing its cost efficiency and predictability.
The state-of-the-art trains, named "Maglev," have had programs researching their usefulness and effectiveness within the urban setting as far back as the 1970s in Germany, with the Transrapid prototype still being perfected today.
Brecher said the benefits that Transrapid provides are its record breaking speeds of more than 310 miles per hour, its exceptionally smooth ride coming due to the lack of contact with the track and its lack of a conventional power source, which removes the pollution element - deserves attention from the U.S. government.
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The suspension of the train is accomplished through support and guidance magnet coils on the track and under the train, which repel each other, leaving it floating above the track. The engine is the only component of the system that is conventionally powered, requiring three times less energy than a car due to the lack of friction.
Brecher said the train is "people-friendly," not jolting the passengers from accelerating and decelerating. She added that the design leaves the train wrapped around the track, reducing the threat of derailment. Passengers are not required to wear seatbelts and are free to move about the cars.
She said New Mexico has researched a version of the train and is looking at reducing costs by using permanent magnets and aluminum reduction coils.
"If the state gets the money, the concept of one of these trains changing New Mexican's lives could very well become a reality," Brecher said.
She added that it is especially compelling for inter-city transportation because the track can be integrated into the countryside with complete flexibility. The trains are capable of ascending 10 percent gradients, compared to conventional train's ability to climb only four, allowing the track to conform to the shape of the area, reducing intrusion to the environment.
Brecher noted the country's stance on such ventures as the reason something like this has yet to become a reality here.
"America likes to take from others' technology, learn from it, improve it and deploy it," she said.
Brecher said that in order to enter the world of "high technology," a substantial investment of at least $2 billion in federal funds would be required to begin research into the possibilities such a design would have here.
"Eventually something has to happen," said Jackie Ericksen, treasurer of UNM's Sigma Xi society. "We can't continue consuming land and oil like we are, expanding our highways and harming the land through our development."
Brecher pointed out that the system is not without its flaws, a problem she attributes to a lack of any real world use of the train at this time.
"We don't have the experience to go off of to tell just how effective or ineffective it will be in a real situation," she said.
Brecher is a national expert at the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center in Cambridge, Mass. Her work includes a broad range of topics such as physics instruction, lunar and planetary exploration and the future of global air traffic control.
She is one of five national experts in safety, health and environment. She also has extensive teaching, research and technical experience in academics, business and government.
Her presentation was sponsored by the UNM chapter of Sigma Xi, the scientific research society, School of Engineering, College of Pharmacy, Arts and Sciences, Physics and Astronomy and the Division of Continuing Education.
