New Technologies Make Maglev Guideway Safer and More Comfortable

This article describes the different types of the guideway inspecting technologies developed for the Shanghai maglev demonstration line. For safety and riding comfort, it is important -- during both construction and daily operations -- to inspect or measure the different deviations of the guideway regularly. However, it is impossible to do the job manually because of the short maintenance window time, the high accuracy requirement and the long distance. Therefore, the National Maglev Transportation Engineering R&D Center (NMTC) has developed a series of guideway inspection technologies and equipment -- like Automatic Inspection Equipment (AIE), Long-wave deviation Detection System (LDS), Stator Inspection Equipment (SIE), and Vehicle Vibration Evaluator (VVE) -- that are based on the system requirements of maglev and historical experience from operation and maintenance. With the help of these new technologies and equipment, maglev guideways will become safer and more comfortable in the future.