UAQ4 Levitating Train: Italian Maglev Transportation System

This article illustrates the University of L’Aquila model 4 (UAQ4) Italian maglev train, a transportation system with zero motion resistance (except aerodynamic drag) and greatly reduced energy consumption, approaching zero at a low constant speed. The project is the result of more than 40 years of research in the field of nonconventional highspeed transportation systems. Its technological feasibility has been tested in the laboratory at the University of L’Aquila, Italy. The system architecture and the suspension/propulsion devices are all innovative, with concepts and technologies closer to those of aeronautical systems than to those of traditional high-speed trains. The train floats because of a passive, self-balancing interaction between high-temperature—77 K— liquid-nitrogen-cooled superconductors on board and permanent magnets (PMs) on the track, with a large constant air gap of 50–60 mm in all phases of motion, zero speed included. Propulsion and braking are provided by an innovative dc linear stepper motor, safely operating along the whole speed range. The system innovations, technologies, performance, and applications are discussed