Old Idea Reissued: A Magnetic Levitation Train from the Airport.

The construction of the new Berlin airport was accompanied by numerous breakdowns. The opening had to be postponed several times. Now it actually seems to be finished. Full commissioning is planned for autumn. The city is already thinking about how the existing connection to Schönefeld Airport can be further improved. The most interesting proposal so far comes from the Berlin CDU: They want to build a magnetic levitation train to connect the airport and city center. However, the idea is not entirely new. Because even after reunification, a similar project was discussed. At that time the idea was rejected as unprofitable. The same thing happened later with the planned Transrapid route between Munich and Munich Airport.

A subway would be significantly more expensive

This time, however, the chances of realization are significantly greater. Because the extremely fast and expensive Transrapid is now history. Instead, the construction company Max Bögl has developed its own magnetic levitation train called TSB. This was specially designed for inner-city routes and is technically much easier to implement than the Transrapid. The engineers at Max Bögl emphasize that only existing and proven technology is used. Consequently, the construction costs are also lower. The company is currently communicating a price of around 30 million euros per kilometer. By way of comparison: a subway tunnel over the same distance costs around 200 million euros. The planned construction of a magnetic levitation train between the city center and the airport would therefore cost around 600 million euros.

Two test tracks are already in operation

Compared to a classic train connection, the new technology has several advantages. In this way, speeds of up to 150 kilometers per hour can be achieved. In addition, the smooth drive is quieter and less maintenance-intensive. The transport capacities, however, are similar. There is space for around 120 passengers per car on the maglev train. By combining several modules, the automated train can even transport up to 750 people at once. The TSB has actually already driven: The company operates two of its own test tracks - one in Germany and one in China. It remains to be seen whether the construction in Berlin will actually be realized. Because the CDU is currently in the opposition. However, none of the governing parties has yet commented on the idea.