Editing Transrapid (section)

===Levitation===
The super-speed Transrapid maglev system has no wheels, no axles, no gear transmissions, no steel rails, and no overhead electrical [[Pantograph (transport)|pantographs]]. The maglev vehicles do not roll on wheels; rather, they hover above the track guideway, using the [[Electromagnetic suspension|attractive magnetic force between two linear arrays of electromagnetic coils]]—one side of the coil on the vehicle, the other side in the track guideway, which function together as a magnetic dipole. During levitation and travelling operation, the Transrapid maglev vehicle floats on a frictionless magnetic cushion with no mechanical contact whatsoever with the track guideway. On-board vehicle electronic systems measure the dipole gap distance 100,000 times per second to guarantee the clearance between the coils attached to the underside of the guideway and the magnetic portion of the vehicle wrapped around the guideway edges. With this precise, constantly updated electronic control, the dipole gap remains nominally constant at {{convert|10|mm}}. When levitated, the maglev vehicle has about {{convert|15|cm}} of clearance above the guideway surface.

The Transrapid maglev vehicle requires less power to hover than it needs to run its on-board air conditioning equipment.

In Transrapid vehicle versions TR08 and earlier, when travelling at speeds below {{Convert|80|km/h}}, the vehicle levitation system and all on-board vehicle electronics were supplied with power through physical connections to the track guideway. At vehicle speeds above {{Convert|80|km/h}}, all on-board power was supplied by recovered [[Harmonic oscillator|harmonic oscillation]] of the [[magnetic field]]s created from the track's linear stator. (Since these oscillations are parasitic, they cannot be used for vehicle propulsion). A new energy transmission system, version TR09, has since been developed for Transrapid, in which maglev vehicles now require no physical contact with the track guideway for their on-board power needs, regardless of the maglev vehicle speed. This feature helps to reduce on-going maintenance and operational costs.

In case of power failure of the track's propulsion system, the maglev vehicle can use on-board backup batteries to temporarily power the vehicle's levitation system.