Shanghai Maglev Experience

In all of the years that I have been coming to Shanghai I have never had an opportunity to ride the Maglev. As I had time to kill before flying out to Xiamen I thought 'why not go for a ride on the world's fastest train clocked at over 430km/h.

It is fast, the 30km ride from Pudong Airpot to Longyang station takes a mere 8 minutes! I was a little disappointed as the blurb states that the maximum speed is 431 km/h and we got to a much slower speed of 301km/h!

The ride was extremely smooth but it was still impossible to take a photo out of the window as everything was a blur on the screen!
You can only find the Maglev train in China. It was designed in Germany and runs on a magnetic current which lifts and propels the train forward.

Why? You ask, is it only in China?

Well it's the most expensive train in the world and only China can afford it! Plans are currently being worked on to build a Maglev from Shanghai to Hanghzou, a distance of 145km. By car it takes approximately 2 hours, but by Maglev it will only take a maximum of 50 minutes.