What are "Maglev" trains?

What are "Maglev" trains?

Terry Tamminen (Author & Environmental Policy Advisor) gives expert video advice on: How does using mass transit systems help the environment? and more...

Maglev trains basically use the principle of magnetic attraction and repulsion. When we were children we all studied in science how there's a north and a south pole in a magnet, and if you put two norths together or two souths together, they actually repel one another. That principle is used to make magnetic levitation, or 'Maglev', trains operate. The Maglev train operates on a rail, but it actually hovers slightly above the rail because of these opposing magnetic forces. So essentially a Maglev train is an electric train, and depending on how you create the electricity to power that train, it can be a very clean form of mass transit.