17 July 2009
The Shanghai Maglev is the world's first commercial high-speed maglev train line, running for 30.5 km between Pudong International Airport and the city centre. The trains can reach 430 km/h, and the journey takes around 8 minutes.
The maglev was constructed by a German company, Transrapid, based in Emsland.
The world's first ever commercially-operating maglev service opened in 1984 between Birmingham International Airport in the UK and the nearby railway station. It consisted of 600 metres of track and reached a speed of 42 km/h. It closed in 1995 due to the lack of availability of spare parts. I'll eventually post a photo of the Birmingham maglev when I have the chance to scan it in!