Going off track: How Britain invented the Maglev then let it slide

&quot;Birmingham isn&#x27;t like other British cities – it fetishises the technical and promotes the new.&quot;<p>That&#x27;s one potentially contestable way to view Birmingham

I know maglevs look cool and all, but there are quite practical reasons why they didn&#x27;t pan out. One thing people tend to overlook is that regular rail lines are much more versatile. Regular rail can handle a variety of loads - the French high speed rail system also handles postal mail for instance. If you are building rail lines you already have a ton of kit that can use them - such as all the service machinery. Build a maglev and you can throw away all your expensive line maintenance vehicles.

The question of why it didn&#x27;t take off is answered in the article, albeit in parentheses: &quot;(Maglev is indisputably more expensive upfront than high-speed rail.)&quot;

No mention of the low-speed maglev being built in Beijing:<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.chinadaily.com.cn&#x2F;business&#x2F;2016-11&#x2F;28&#x2F;content_27504299.htm" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.chinadaily.com.cn&#x2F;business&#x2F;2016-11&#x2F;28&#x2F;content_275...</a><p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Line_S1,_BCR" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Line_S1,_BCR</a>

Haven&#x27;t read the article yet, but I admire the title.

The colorful intermediate text passages have so bad kerning that they&#x27;re nigh impossible to read.

The UK has a proud history of doing things and then failing to capitalise on it. Examples:<p>• Black Arrow [0] - orbital satellite launcher, cancelled almost on the day of the first successful launch.<p>• Miles M.52 [1] - could have beaten the Bell-X1 to supersonic flight by a year, if it hadn&#x27;t been cancelled.<p>[0] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Black_Arrow" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Black_Arrow</a> [1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Miles_M.52" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Miles_M.52</a>

Whoever wrote that description of my home city evidently last visited in 1816.

It&#x27;s maglev! It&#x27;s not supposed to slide, it&#x27;s supposed to float!

M###ie T###cher