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In Berlin，the M-Bahn was built in the 1980s：a driverless maglev system with a 1.6km track connecting three U-Bahn（metro）stations.Testing in passenger traffic started in August 1989，and regular operation started in July 1991.On account of traffic changes after the fall of the Berlin Wall，deconstruction of the line began only two months later and was completed in February 1992.The line was replaced by a regular U-Bahn line.
The world’s first commercial automated system was a low-speed maglev shuttle that ran from the airport terminal of Birmingham International Airport（UK）to the nearby Birmingham International railway Station from 1984 to 1995.The length of the track was 600 m，and trains“flew”at an altitude of 15mm.It became effective for nearly eleven years，but the out-of-date electronic systems made it unreliable in its later years and it has now been replaced with a cable-drawn system.
Transrapid，a German maglev company with a test track in Emsland，constructed the first operational high-speed conventional maglev railway in the world，the Shanghai Maglev Train from Shanghai to new Shanghai airport at Pudong.It was inaugurated in 2002.The highest speed achieved on the Shanghai track has been 501km/h，over a track length of 30km.Transrapid uses EMS technology.
Japan has a test track in Yamanashi prefecture where test trains have reached 581km/h，faster than wheeled trains.These trains use superconducting magnets which allow for a larger gap，and repulsive-type“Electro-Dynamic Suspension”（EDS）.In comparison Transrapid uses conventional electromagnets and attractive-type“Electro-Magnetic Suspension”（EMS）.These“Superconducting Maglev Shinkansen”，developed by the Central Japan Railway Co.（“JR Central”）and Kawasaki Heavy Industries，are presently the fastest trains in the world，achieving a record speed of 581km/h on December 2，2003.If a proposed Chuo Shinkansen is built，connecting Tokyo to Osaka by maglev，this test track would be part of the line.
The world’s first commercial automated“Urban Maglev”system commenced operation in March 2005 in Japan.This is the nine-station 8.9km-long Tobu-Kyuryo Line Linimo，otherwise known as the Nagoya East Hill Line.The line has aminimum operating radius of 75m and a maximum gradient of 6％.The linear-motor magnetic-levitated train has a top speed of 100km/h.The line serves the local community as well as the Expo 2005 Fair site.The trains were designed by the Chubu HSST Development Corporation，which also operates a test track in Nagoya.Urban-type maglev trains patterned after the HSST has been constructed and demonstrated in Korea，and a Korean commercial version is proposed by Rotem.
In the US，the Federal Transit Administration（FTA）Urban Maglev Technology Demonstration program has funded the design of several low-speed urban maglev demonstration projects.It has assessed HSST for the Maryland Department of Transportation and maglev technology for the Colorado Department of Transportation.The FTA has also funded work by General Atomics at California University of Pennsylvania to demonstrate new maglev designs，the MagneMotion M3 and of the Maglev 2000 of Florida superconducting EDS system.Other US urban maglev demonstration projects of note are the LEVX in Washington State，the Massachusetts-based Magplane，and a design similar to HSST by American Maglev Technology of Florida at Old Dominion University in Virginia.
On December 31，2000，the first crewed high-temperature superconducting maglev was tested successfully at Southwest Jiaotong University，Chengdu，China.This system is based on the principle that bulk high-temperature superconductors can be levitated or suspended stably above or below a permanent magnet.The load was over 530 kg and the levitation gap over 20mm.The system uses liquid nitrogen，which is very cheap，to cool the superconductor.
Questions for Discussion
1.What are the existing maglev systems that this passage has mentioned？
2.Which company constructed Shanghai Maglev Train？What kind of technology does transrapid use？