Some of the fastest trains in service today have a top speed in excess of 200 miles per hour.
The ability of maglev trains to eliminate rolling friction is what gives them their superior speed.
The engineer was Jean Bertin.
This effect is known as ground effect.
The phenomenon was well-known among pilots, but for Bertin and his team, it was entirely new.
Again, this idea was not new.
But this didnt disappoint Bertin.
On the contrary, it encouraged him to continue researching on ground effect vehicles.
Small-scale ferry service across the English Channel started as early as 1962.
By 1968, the hovercraft had developed into a useful commercial craft.
Jean Bertin’s assistant Paul Guienne presents a model of his prototype Aerotrain.
Meanwhile, Jean Bertin was making his own progress.
At first, Bertin built scale models of his Aerotrain and tested them on the streets of Paris.
In a few months, it reached a record speed of 214 mph (345 kmph).
The 18-kilometers-long nearly straight track is elevated on concrete pillars 5 meters above the ground.
The track was completed in September 1969.
In 1974, the state withdrew financial support and the Aerotrain project was cancelled.
Support shifted towardstres grande vitesse,or TGV, insteadFrances other high-speed transport solution.
The test track built outside Orleans still stands, mostly intact.
A 1/12 scale model of Jean Bertin’s Aerotrain.
Engineer Jean Bertin shows a model of his prototype Aerotrain to Prime Minister Georges Pompidou in Paris.
A 1/2 scale prototype on a test track at Gometz-le-Chatel, Essonne.
The elevated test tracks near Chevilly today.
Part of the tracks through a patch of forest near Chevilly.
Photo:jsmaur/Flickr
Part of the test tracks in Gometz-le-Chatel, Essonne.
