LOCAL MEN CHECK TRAIN IN SHANGHAI PUBLIC AGENCY PAYS FOR TRIP.Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer PALMDALE - Palmdale City Councilman Steve Hofbauer and Assistant City Manager Steve Williams Steve Williams may refer to:
The Antelope Valley and downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area. The sprawling, multi-centered megacity is such that its downtown core is often considered just another district like Hollywood or in 20 minutes. The two men are part of a Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, delegation that checked out the maglev line in Shanghai. The delegation described it as the world's first commercial commuter train line to use electromagnetic-levitation or maglev technology. The train line takes passengers from the Pudong International Airport to downtown Shanghai, about 19 miles, in eight minutes. Electromagnetic force electromagnetic force One of the four known basic forces in the universe. Electromagnetism is responsible for interactions between charged particles that occur because of their charge, and for the emission and absorption of photons (electromagnetic radiation). makes the train hover about one-half inch off its guideway and propels it to speeds that can surpass 260 mph. Hofbauer said he and other riders felt a slight shudder as the magnets were activated and the train levitated about 20 seconds before it left the airport station, where the delegation boarded on Thursday. At that moment, the train was ``just silently lifting itself up,'' Hofbauer said. ``As the train operates, there is only a low electrical hum, like what you might notice near a transformer, and you notice the sound of the wind against the skin of the train,'' he said. Hofbauer and Williams are members of a delegation of the Orange Line Development Authority, an organization formed by local governments of 14 cities proposing a maglev train Magnetic levitation transport, or maglev, is a form of transportation that suspends, guides and propels vehicles (especially trains) using electromagnetic force. This method can be faster than wheeled mass transit systems, potentially reaching velocities comparable to line from Irvine to Palmdale. The trip was financed by the agency. Hofbauer said the delegation got an opportunity to see the technology in action and to talk with government and project officials about the complexities of planning and building such a system. Maglev train supporters say the system can fit into urban areas more easily than conventional railroads or high-speed trains on steel tracks because maglev trains can get by on narrower rights-of-way. They operate on elevated guideways built over or beside conventional railroad tracks or freeways. The maglev proposal is separate from California's high-speed rail High-speed rail is a type of passenger rail transport that operates significantly faster than the normal speed of rail traffic. Specific definitions include 200-320 km/h (125-200 mph) - depending on whether the track is upgraded or new - by the European Union and above 90 mph plan, which would use 200-mph trains on conventional steel rails to link Southern California and the Bay Area. That proposed project would have a stop in the Antelope Valley if it is ever built. Jim Skeen, (661) 267-5743 james.skeen(at)dailynews.com |
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