Editing Transrapid (section)

====Train purchase cost====
In 2008, Transrapid Australia quoted the [[Victoria (Australia)|Victorian]] State Government between A$16.5 million (commuter) and A$20 million (luxury) per trains section or carriage.<ref name="Transrapid quote to Victorian Government"/> Due to the {{convert|3.7|m|ftin|abbr=on}} width of the Transrapid carriages they have a floor area of about {{Convert|92|m2|0|abbr=off|sp=us}}. This works out at between A$179,000 and A$217,000 per square meter.

In comparison, [[InterCityExpress]] which are also built by [[Siemens]] cost about A$6 million per carriage. Due to the {{Convert|2.9|m|ftin|abbr=on}} width of the ICE carriages they have a floor area of about {{Convert|72|m2|0|abbr=off|sp=us}}. This works out at about A$83,000 per square meter.

This shows Transrapid train sets are likely to cost over twice as much as ICE 3 conventional fast rail train sets at this time. However, each Transrapid train set is more than twice as efficient due to their faster operating speed and acceleration according to [[UK Ultraspeed]]. In their case study only 44% as many Transrapid train sets are needed to deliver the same number of passengers as conventional high-speed trains.