Progress of Urban Maglev Program in Korea - Railway · PDF fileChallenge G: An even more competitive and cost efficient railway From 2003, Hyundai-Rotem, Korea’s railcar manufacturing

Challenge G: An even more competitive and cost efficient railway

Progress of Urban Maglev Program in Korea

B. C. Shin, W. J. Kim, D. Y. Park, J. G. Beak, H. S. Kang

Center for Urban Maglev Program, Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials, Daejon, Korea

Tel: +82-42-868-7988, Fax: +82-42-868-7997, e-mail: [email protected]

1. Introduction Korea's Urban Maglev Program started in December 2006. The objectives of the program are to

develop the competitive urban transit maglev vehicle and to construct a 6.1 km urban maglev

Demonstration Line at Incheon International Airport by 2012. The maglev trains will start revenue

service from 2013. The recent progress of the program will be discussed in this paper. 2. Korea’s Maglev Development History A R&D project for a low-to-medium speed maglev system started in 1989 by Korea Institute of

Machinery and Materials (KIMM). The development was focused at the maglev vehicle with

electromagnetic suspension (EMS) and linear induction motor (LIM) propulsion. In 1997, 1.1km long test track was constructed in KIMM, which was extended to 1.3 km in 2002. The

test track has 6 % and 4 % slopes and the curves with the minimum radius of 60 meters. The pilot

Urban Transit Maglev trainset (UTM-01) with two vehicles was developed in 1998. UTM-01 has EMS

suspension system and LIM-VVVF inverter propulsion system. Figure 1 shows the 1.3 km test track in

KIMM and figure 2 UTM-01 vehicle.

Figure 1: Test Track in KIMM (1.3 km)

Figure 2: UTM-01 Trainset.


From 2003, Hyundai-Rotem, Korea’s railcar manufacturing company, continued maglev development

project to develop UTM-02. UTM-02 was developed to provide a shuttle service on the 1 km long

single track between Expo Park and National Science Museum in Daejon. The line was constructed

by upgrading a section of existing Expo’93 Maglev track. Figure 3 shows UTM-02.

Figure 3: UTM-02 Trainset

3. Urban Maglev Program In 2006, the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs (MLTM) initiated Urban Maglev Program

to finalize the previous maglev R&D projects and to prove that the developed system is ready for

revenue service as an urban transportation. The Center for Urban Maglev Program (CUMP) was set

up to lead the program. Financial support is provided by MLTM with assistance from Ministry of

Education, Science and Technology (MEST) and Ministry of Knowledge Economy (MKE) with

matching funds from the participating companies. The program is supervised by Korea Institute of

Construction & Transportation Technology Evaluation and Planning (KICTEP). The total program budget is expected to be 375 million US Dollars, including contributions from the

private sector, Incheon International Airport and City of Incheon. The program schedule is shown in

Table 1.

Table 1. Program Schedule 07 08 09 10 11 12 13

R&D for Technical Improve-

ments

Systems Engineering

Vehicles (including performance test)

Guideway Facilities

Demonst-ration Line

Construc-tion

Site Selection Line Design Construction / Systems Integration

T & C* *: Test & Commissioning


The program is composed of three Core Projects; Systems Engineering, Vehicle Development, and

Demonstration Line Construction. The Core Projects are managed by KIMM, Hyundai-Rotem and

Korea Rail Network Authority, respectively. 3.1. Core Project 1: Systems Engineering The objective of Core Project 1 is to support management and integration of sub-systems for the

successful implementation of Urban Maglev Program. Also, the interface management for system

integration and the system management plan have been applied. Systems Engineering has five sub-

projects; System Integration, Systems Engineering Process Definition and Requirement Management,

Analysis of RAMS and LCC, Test and Evaluation, and Legislation/Amendment of Regulations. The RAMS management plan are currently applied to vehicles as well as major subsystems such as

signalling system, PSD(Platform Screen Door), communication system, turnouts and etc. 3.2. Core Project 2: Vehicle Development The objectives of Core Project 2 are to develop and commercialize three consists of driverless urban

maglev vehicles of maximum speed of 110 km/h and to perform the comprehensive vehicle test.

Vehicle Development has three sub-projects; Development and Production of Urban Maglev Vehicle,

Performance Improvement of Levitation and Propulsion System, and Safety and Stability of Vehicle

Considering Interaction with Guideway. The sub-project ‘Performance Improvement of Levitation and Propulsion System’ upgraded the EMS

levitation system and the propulsion system. The sub-project ‘Safety and Stability of Vehicle

Considering Interaction with Guideway’ provided technical data to civil design of guideway by maglev

vehicle/guideway dynamic interaction simulations based on virtual prototyping. Figure 4 shows the outline dimensions of the new maglev trainset which is composed of two married-

pair vehicles. The frontal shape is designed to imitate the shape of Korea’s traditional celadon

porcelain. Also, the design is prepared to compatible with Incheon International Airport, which is one

of the best airports in the world. The design specifications of the maglev vehicle are listed in Table 2.

Figure 5 shows the tractive efforts of the vehicle and figure 6 the vehicle electrical system schematics.

Figure 4: Outline Dimension


Table 2. Urban Maglev Train Specifications

Figure 5: Tractive Efforts

The prototype trainset of two permanently coupled maglev vehicles was built in December 2009, and

transferred to 1.3 km test track in KIMM, Daejon, Korea. The trainset has been under various

performance tests at KIMM test track. Figure 7 shows the prototype trainset on the KIMM test track.

Figure 8 shows the view of virtual operation of the maglev train in service after 2013.

Train Configuration 2 Cars, Permanently Coupled (Mc1+Mc2) Vehicle Dimensions [m] 12.0 (L) x 2.7 (W) x 3.45 (H) Vehicle Weight Tare : 19 ton/car

Laden : 26.5 ton/car Passenger Capacity 115 persons/car

[Standing: 5 persons/㎡] Number of Bogies 4 per Car Propulsion System LIM + VVVF Inverter Levitation System ElectroMagnetic Suspension Type, 8 mm air gap Brake System Blending of Regenerative & Mechanical Brake Power Supply 1,500 VDC Max. Design Speed 110 km/h Max. Operating Speed 80 - 100 km/h Max. Acceleration 4.0 km/h/s Max. Deceleration 4.0 km/h/s in Service, 4.5 km/h/s in Emergency Ride Index below 2.0 of UIC Max. Gradient 70 ‰ Min. Curve Radius 50 mR


Figure 6: Vehicle Electrical System Schematics

Figure 7: Prototype Maglev Trainset on Test Track

Figure 8: View of Virtual Operation of Maglev Trains on Demonstration Line


3.3 Core Project 3: Demonstration Line Construction The objectives of this Core Project are to design and construct the 6.1km demonstration maglev line

and Test & Commissioning for safety verification and stabilization of running performance. For the commercial application of Urban Maglev, both the improvement of maglev guideway

technology and the economical rapid construction technology in urban area are important. Also, the

development of high speed articulated turnouts having less than 25 second switching time are

required. Hence, Core Project 3 is composed of three sub-projects; Line Construction, Improvement of Maglev

Guideway Structure, and Development of High Speed Articulated Maglev Switch. Figure 9 shows the

developed 3 way articulated turnout under long-term operation test. In addition to the 3 way turnout, 2

way and X type turnout, composed of four 2 way turnouts, will be installed in the Demonstration Line.

Figure 9: 3 Way Articulated Turnout

4. Demonstration Line In 2007, the consortium of Incheon International Airport and Incheon city was selected for the maglev

Demonstration Line site after tough competition with 3 other major cities in Korea. As the first phase

of total 3 phases (57km in total), the 6.1 km long Demonstration Line starting from the Transportation

Center of Incheon International Airport will be constructed. The Demonstration Line will end at Yong U

area where the second Airport Express Line will have the final station. The construction started since

Feb. 2010 by the consortium led by GS Engineering & Construction. The Demonstration Line will have six stations, where the first station (101 Station) will be located

inside the Transportation Center of Incheon International Airport. In addition to the six stations, there

will be a maintenance depot to accommodate seven trainsets. Figure 10 shows the bird’s-eye view of Demonstration Line. The pillar and guideway are designed to

be slim, light, aesthetically appealing and cost competitive with those of other light rail systems.

Figure 11 shows the pillar and guideway designs. There is an emergency escape way between the

double tracks.


Figure 10: Demonstration Line.

Figure 11: Pillar and Guideway Designs

The second station, 102 Station, will be located at the long-term parking lot, the third station (103

Station) at International Business Center that is the business district with office buildings, shops, and

hotels. Figure 12 shows the designs of six stations. All stations will be aesthetically appealing to the

very high standards of Incheon International Airport without compromising comfort and convenience

of the passengers.

Figure 12: Station Designs


5. Performance Test on Test Track The new maglev vehicles have been under performance test on the test track since March 2010.

Various type tests following test plans and procedures to confirm the vehicle performance prepared

by the manufacturer and Test and Evaluation sub-project. Also test articles specified in Urban Railway

Act and Enforcement Decree of the Urban Railway Act of Korea have been applied. Figure 13 shows one example of powering and braking performance tests of the maglev train. The

figure shows the maglev train’s acceleration to reach top speed of about 53 km/h from standstill in

about 12 seconds following the propulsion(notch) command. The acceleration and decelerartion

capabilities are confirmed to meet the requirement of 4.0 km/h/s.

Figure 13 : Example of Powering and Braking Performance Test Result

A typical airgap variation during the vehicle operation on the test track is shown in figure 14. The

design requirement for the airgap variation is 3 mm with the norminal airgap of 8 mm. Figure 14

shows the airgap variation meets the requirement up to 55 km/h. The compliance of airgap variation

up to the maximum speed will be confirmed on the Demonstration Line.

Figure 14 : Airgap Peak Variation


The maglev vehicle has an on-board battery back-up system for electromagnets. The system is

activated when the electrical power is not supplied to the electromagnet. Therefore, when there is a

power failure, the maglev vehicle is able to levitate for more than 30 seconds, during which time the

vehicle will land on the rail with support wheels not losing any passenger comfort. Figure 15 shows

the battery back-up system test results. The DC-DC converter supplying power to the electromagnet

is turned-off at 43 seconds. The airgap plots shown in the bottom figure do not show any abrupt

changes when the power is disconnected.

Figure 15 : Airgap Peak Variation

The ride quality of the vehicle is a very important parameter related to the passenger comfort, which is

one of the many features that urban maglev excels. Table 3 shows the UIC ride quality index (UIC

513R) measured on the test track. All the data is lower than 1, which confirms that the maglev

vehicles provide a superior ride quality to passengers.

Table 3. Ride Quality (UIC 513R)

Vehicle Average Minimum Maximum

MC1 0.4438 0.3045 0.5493

MC2 0.4194 0.3340 0.5324

6. Summary The Urban Maglev Program is a unique type of R&D project in the sense that it is a combination of

R&D project and construction project. The first stage of the program, R&D activities to improve

performance of existing maglev train is successfully completed. The prototype maglev vehicles of

commercialization model were built and have been under various tests on the test track. The preliminary test results of the maglev vehicles show that the performances including powering

and braking, ride quality, cabin noise and vibration are within the design requirements. Other

performance tests such as long term reliability test will be performed until 2011.


Construction of the 6.1 km Demonstration Line will be completed in 2012. The commercialization

model maglev trains will undergo a series of final tests on the Demonstration Line according to the

government regulations. It is expected that the revenue service with the fleet of four urban maglev

trainsets will begin from September 2013. The ridership in 2015 is expected to be 34,000 passengers

per day.

References [1] B. C. Shin, “Korea’s Urban Maglev Program”, Korea Policy Review, August 2007, pp. 58-59. [2] ‘Maglev demonstration line’, International Railway Gazette, May 2008, p. 29 [3] Byung Chun Shin, Doh Young Park, Suhyun Baik, and Heung-Sik Kang, “Status of Korea's Urban

Maglev Program”, Paper No. 50, Maglev2008. [4] Doh Young Park, Byung Chun Shin, and Hyungsuk Han, “Korea’s Urban Maglev Program”, Proc.

Of the IEEE, Vol. 97, No. 11, Nov. 2009 [5] Byung Chun Shin, “Current Status of Urban Maglev Program in Korea”, Keynote Speech in LDIA

2009 Int’l Conf., Sep. 2009. [6] Byung Chun Shin, “Preliminary Test Results of Prototype Urban Maglev Train”, Keynote Speech in

ICEMS2010 Int’l Conf., 2010.

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Progress of Urban Maglev Program in Korea - Railway · PDF fileChallenge G: An even more competitive and cost efficient railway From 2003, Hyundai-Rotem, Korea’s railcar manufacturing