I left on Friday for a 10 day trip to Peoria and Decatur. My flight from Shanghai was delayed by a couple of hours so I had some time to kill. I decided to try out the Maglev express train to Shanghai.
The train runs a seven minute route between Pudong Airport and Longyang Road Station - about 20 miles. They display the train speed on a screen in the cabin. During my trip, it registered 430 km/hr or 270 mph - half the speed of an airplane ! I paid 80 RMB (~$12) for a round-trip ticket in "economy" class.
The train feels like a normal train ride, accelerating slowly out of the station. However, when we passed a Maglev going in the opposite direction, there was a startling sound, almost like a collision.
This train would be a terrific asset if only it ran from the airport a useful location such as downtown Shanghai or the domestic airport, Hongqiao. As it is, the maglev drops you off at an obscure spot in the Pudong district where you need to take a taxi or other tranport to go to a typical destination.
The train runs a seven minute route between Pudong Airport and Longyang Road Station - about 20 miles. They display the train speed on a screen in the cabin. During my trip, it registered 430 km/hr or 270 mph - half the speed of an airplane ! I paid 80 RMB (~$12) for a round-trip ticket in "economy" class.
The train feels like a normal train ride, accelerating slowly out of the station. However, when we passed a Maglev going in the opposite direction, there was a startling sound, almost like a collision.
This train would be a terrific asset if only it ran from the airport a useful location such as downtown Shanghai or the domestic airport, Hongqiao. As it is, the maglev drops you off at an obscure spot in the Pudong district where you need to take a taxi or other tranport to go to a typical destination.
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