The dream of high-speed, levitating trains gliding silently over the world’s rail networks just took a giant leap toward reality. In a pioneering test on the outskirts of this famed canal city, an Italian tech firm has accomplished what was once thought impossible: running a magnetic levitation train on an existing railway without a single modification to the tracks.

The successful trial saw IronLev’s prototype maglev vehicle float two feet above the well-worn rails and reach speeds of 70 km/h (43 mph). While that may seem a sluggish pace compared to cutting-edge commercial maglevs that can top 600 km/h, it marks a watershed moment for the technology – and perhaps the future of rail transportation itself.

More than that, it solves one of the biggest obstacles holding back the widespread adoption of the high-tech magnetic levitation system across existing railway corridors.

An elusive technology

Though ideas for magnetic levitation trace back to early 20th-century patents, it wasn’t until the late 1960s that researchers built the first commercial maglev prototypes using superconducting electromagnets that allowed a vehicle to be suspended inches above a guideway. Avoiding direct surface contact vastly reduces friction and wear, enabling the trains to achieve phenomenal speeds using less energy than wheeled transit.

Despite its engineering prowess, mu-metal alloy and commercial drawbacks have confined the super-smooth technology to just a handful of real-world operations. In addition to the Shanghai maglev, a relatively short 19-mile link to the city’s main airport, there are two low-speed urban lines in South Korea, two in Japan – including one that holds the ground-speed record for rail vehicles at 375 mph (603 km/h) – and a third short shuttle in China.

The main challenges have been the colossal infrastructure costs, with some estimates topping $100 million per mile to lay specialized guideways and the lack of compatibility with existing railroad networks. Germany’s early experimentation with an inland maglev line in the dying days of the Cold War illustrated the promise and limitations when its pioneering 20-mile stretch closed just two years after opening due to a shifting political landscape following reunification.

Tapping the air gap

That’s exactly what IronLev claims to have achieved. Rather than expensive guideways, their patented system uses an array of electromagnets mounted under the train car’s body to induce magnetic fields that interact with aluminum rails attached to the existing tracks. By carefully controlling those fields, they essentially create a flexible “guideway” of magnetic forces to lift and propel the vehicle across an air gap a few inches wide.

During the Venice test, in which IronLev collaborated with a local university transportation department, the team incrementally increased speeds along the two-kilometer stretch of the Venetian freight line to validate the levitation, stabilization, and propulsion systems. They were delighted to encounter no issues of derailment, instability, or losses in magnetic attraction.

If IronLev can scale up the system to allow higher speeds and heavier passenger loads, it could open the door for a relatively low-cost way to upgrade certain rail segments to ultra-high-speed maglev status using the tracks already in place. Older trains would be able to continue running on shared routes, with maglevs restricted to paths where their higher speeds could be unleashed safely.

Remaining hurdles

Of course, key hurdles still remain before IronLev’s vision of electromagnetic trains crisscrossing the globe’s legacy rail networks can be realized. The power requirements for keeping ton-heavy rail cars levitated will necessitate reinforced electrical lines or some form of advanced outboard power transmission. And at speeds over 300 mph, the extraordinarily low air resistance could pose new buffeting challenges along open-air rights of way.

There are also evergreen concerns around the high investment costs and uncertain public appetite to rip up functional railbeds for futuristic technology most cities can’t afford from scratch. Japan’s challenges in expanding its Chuo Shinkansen line using traditional maglev infrastructure underscore the difficulties.

Still, IronLev’s colleagues in the tight-knit maglev research community welcomed the successful trial as a milestone worth celebrating. If the concept can graduate from prototypes to full-scale commercial operations, it could finally unlock maglev’s promised advantages of high cruise speeds, minimal emissions, lower operating costs, and a smoother, quieter ride compared to conventional rail – all without requiring billions in new infrastructure.