'The amazing speed could prove a problem for trainspotters' Neil Hodgson travelled to Germany to experience the Maglev first hand
THE first thing you notice about travelling at 260mph on the Maglev is, there's hardly any sensation of speed at all!
As the Transrapid unit hit 417kph on its German test track in the woodland of Lathen, near the Dutch border, it was difficult to believe we were hurtling along at more than twice the speed of Richard Branson's 125mph Pendolinos - on a good day.
It seemed only a Star Trek-style matter transporter could be quicker.
As the speed readout in the cabin climbed steadily towards 400kph the babble among our press group and a party of American policy experts grew even more excited.
But because the carriage is powered by magnetic waves, on the guideway track below there was no 'engine noise' so we were in no danger of being drowned out.
The Transrapid team member who sits in the cockpit doesn't drive so much as observe, because the whole unit is driven by a programme from the Transrapid control centre.
Veterans of the system who have ridden the Shang-hail Transrapid, which hit 311mph with 600 passengers on board, say the speeds the unit reaches are incredible.
"When you're going along at full tilt alongside a motor-way it looks like all the cars are going backwards," one passenger said.
But the amazing speed could also prove troublesome for Britain's army of trainspotters.
As we readied our cameras at an observation point the blur and whoosh as it whizzed by was the first we knew of its arrival - and not a single camera was ready!
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