Editing Transrapid (section)

===Comparative costs===
====Track construction cost====
The fully elevated [[Shanghai Maglev]] was built at a cost 
of US$1.33&nbsp;billion over a length of {{convert|30.5|km}} including trains and stations. Thus the cost per km for dual track was US$43.6&nbsp;million, including trains and stations. This was the first commercial use of the technology. Since then conventional fast rail track has been mass-produced in China for between US$4.6 and US$30.8&nbsp;million per kilometer, mostly in rural areas. (See [[High-speed rail in China]]).

In 2008 Transrapid Australia quoted the [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]] State Government [[Australian dollar|A$]]34 million per kilometer for dual track.<ref Name="Transrapid quote to Victorian Government">[http://210.15.220.118/ewlna_submissions/EastWestResponse_100708_ThyssenKruppTransrapidAustralia.pdf Transrapid quote to Victorian Government]{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> This assumed 50% of the track was at grade and 50% was elevated. In comparison, the {{convert|47|km}} [[Regional Rail Link]] built in Victoria cost around A$5 billion, or A$105 million per kilometer, including two stations.

From the above it is not possible to say whether Transrapid or conventional fast rail track would be cheaper for a particular application.

The higher operating speed of the maglev system will result in more passengers being delivered over the same distance in a set time. The ability of the Transrapid system to handle tighter turns and steeper gradients could heavily influence a cost comparison for a particular project.

====Train purchase cost====
In 2008, Transrapid Australia quoted the [[Victoria (Australia)|Victorian]] State Government between A$16.5 million (commuter) and A$20 million (luxury) per trains section or carriage.<ref name="Transrapid quote to Victorian Government"/> Due to the {{convert|3.7|m|ftin|abbr=on}} width of the Transrapid carriages they have a floor area of about {{Convert|92|m2|0|abbr=off|sp=us}}. This works out at between A$179,000 and A$217,000 per square meter.

In comparison, [[InterCityExpress]] which are also built by [[Siemens]] cost about A$6 million per carriage. Due to the {{Convert|2.9|m|ftin|abbr=on}} width of the ICE carriages they have a floor area of about {{Convert|72|m2|0|abbr=off|sp=us}}. This works out at about A$83,000 per square meter.

This shows Transrapid train sets are likely to cost over twice as much as ICE 3 conventional fast rail train sets at this time. However, each Transrapid train set is more than twice as efficient due to their faster operating speed and acceleration according to [[UK Ultraspeed]]. In their case study only 44% as many Transrapid train sets are needed to deliver the same number of passengers as conventional high-speed trains.

====Operational cost====
Transrapid claims their system has very low maintenance costs compared to conventional high speed rail systems due to the non-contact nature of their system.<ref Name="Transrapid International">[http://www.transrapid.de/cgi/en/basics.prg?session=76d1f56f4da67ae8_285873&a_no=35 Transrapid Website - Economic Efficiency] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719234220/http://www.transrapid.de/cgi/en/basics.prg?session=76d1f56f4da67ae8_285873&a_no=35 |date=2011-07-19 }}</ref>