A magnetic levitation vehicle capable of running on an existing rail

A magnetic levitation vehicle capable of running on an existing rail route without any infrastructural adjustments

The revolutionary Italian technology is being presented by IronLev, a hi-tech company from Treviso, which carried out the world’s first magnetic levitation test on the Adria-Mestre route in cooperation with the Veneto Region.

The test proved, for the first time ever, the possibility of applying magnetic levitation on rails of railway lines already in use, with significant advantages in terms of efficiency, as well as noise and vibration reduction due to the absence of friction, confirmed by the observations undertaken.

Specifically, during the test, the prototype vehicle weighing one ton successfully traversed the reference track at a self-limited speed of 70 km/h, without the addition of modifications to the 2-km-long test track or the need to integrate it with additional elements. Thanks to such technology, therefore technically called “passive ferromagnetic levitation”, the magnetic skids actually suspend the vehicle by interacting directly with traditional railroad tracks.

 “We proved that our prototype can be applied on a large scale, revolutionizing the rail transportation sector, thanks to its technical simplicity, versatility of use and lower cost than similar systems”, said Adriano Girotto, president of IronLev. “A big step forward, then, compared to alternative technologies proposed so far, which have not been effectively applied on a large scale because of high costs, including energy costs, due to the need to develop an ad-hoc infrastructure to enable the levitation system to operate. Essential, then, is the absence of rolling noise and vibration, which make our technology the best solution for urban transportation applications, enabling the valorization of surrounding urban areas”.