World's 1st maglev train to run on existing track presented

(ANSA) - ROME, MAR 12 - The world's first magnetic levitation (maglev) train to run on existing conventional track has been presented by an Italian firm.
    The revolutionary technology, invented by the Treviso-based IronLev company, was presented in Verona Tuesday at LetExpo, Italy's sustainable transport and logistics fair.
    The world's first test was done on a stretch of railway between Adria and Mastre near Venice in collaboration with the Veneto regional government.
    The maglev train covered two kilometres at an average speed of 70 kph.
    "Today we have shown that our prototype can be applied on a wide scale, revolutionizing the rail transport sector, thanks to its technical simplicity, versatility of use and more contained costs with respect to similar systems," said IronLev President Adriano Girotto.
    "It is a big step forward, therefore, with respect to technologies proposed up to today, which have not had large-scale applications because of elevated costs, also energetic, due to the need to develop ad-hoc infrastructure to permit the functioing of the system". (ANSA).