Energy and storage · Experimental cross-disciplinary systems
Maglev, hyperloop, wireless charging roads and autonomous buses
How far have fast and automated ground transport ideas got on real tracks and roads today?
This comparison sets four ground transport approaches side by side on the same four dimensions: longest line or test track, top speed, passenger service and main limitation. Each cell states its conditions, and blank cells mean the sources reviewed give no reliable public figure.
| Option | Longest operating line or test trackLength in kilometres (km) or metres (m) of the longest line or test track named in the sources, with whether it is operating or a test facility. | Top speed demonstratedHighest speed in kilometres per hour (km/h) shown in a cited test or service, with the year and whether it was a test run. | Passenger service todayWhether members of the public ride the system as a service now, and on what scale, as stated in the cited sources. | Main limitationThe most important barrier the cited sources name. Plain text, no units. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maglev | About 30 km: the Shanghai airport line, in commercial operation. Sources give 29.86 km and 30.5 km, plus a separate maintenance track.Demonstrated[1] | 603 km/h, set by the L0 Series crewed train on the Yamanashi test line, Japan, on 21 April 2015.Demonstrated[2][3] | Yes: the Shanghai airport line carries passengers commercially. Sources give the start as 2003 or 2004. The current maximum cruising speed is 300 km/h.Demonstrated[1] | Schedule slippage on the main new build. Japan's Chuo Shinkansen maglev line is scheduled to open in 2034, after delays pushed back its original 2027 opening date.Reported, unverified[3] |
| Hyperloop | 420 m test track at the European Hyperloop Center in Veendam, Groningen province, Netherlands. The centre describes it as a test track for hyperloop technologies.Reported, unverified[4] | No reliable public figure | No reliable public figure | No reliable public figure |
| Wireless charging roads | About 0.4 km (a quarter-mile segment) of wireless charging roadway on 14th Street, Detroit, USA, announced in 2023.Reported, unverified[5] | No reliable public figure | No public passenger service in the sources reviewed. The Detroit segment is used to test a Ford EV Transit shuttle, with potential long-term public transport use.Reported, unverified[5] | Cost, in the one public case cited here. Sweden's Trafikverket says procurement for the E20 electric road was cancelled in August 2023 due to increased costs, and the project was removed from the national transport plan in February 2025. The page does not say which charging technology is used.Reported, unverified[6] |
| Autonomous buses | No route length given. Singapore's Punggol shuttles have driven over 25,000 km autonomously in total, up to 27 February 2026.Reported, unverified[7] | No reliable public figure | Limited. By-invite community rides commenced on 12 January 2026, with around 740 people having taken the shuttles. Public rides were scheduled from 1 April 2026.Reported, unverified[7] | Singapore has halted its planned pilot of self-driving public buses on SBS Transit services 400 and 191, and LTA is exploring narrower uses. The 8-seat Punggol Roboshuttles do not have ramps, according to a Ministry of Transport page dated November 2025.Reported, unverified[8][9] |
What the table shows
- Only the maglev row has a top speed figure in this comparison, and it comes from a 2015 test run.
- The hyperloop test track is 420 m and the wireless charging segment is about 0.4 km. Neither is a passenger service in the sources reviewed.
- Autonomous buses carry limited passengers in Singapore, but the sources give cumulative distance rather than a route length.
- The limitations named in the cells are schedule slippage, cost and accessibility.
Read with care
- The figures are not like-for-like. They come from a 2015 record run on a test line, a 420 m hyperloop test track, a city charging segment, and a limited shuttle service.
- The Swedish E20 figure is for electric roads generally. The source does not confirm which charging technology the project would use, so it is not a direct wireless figure.
- Maglev figures differ between sources. Line length is given as 29.86 km and 30.5 km, the start as 2003 or 2004, and the 300 km/h current cruising speed is not the 603 km/h test record.
- The Punggol public-ride date is a scheduled start from a March 2026 announcement, and the source does not confirm it happened.
- Several sources show no visible publication date. For those, published_at is the accessed date, as flagged in each source's license_notes.
Sources
- other
Shanghai maglev train
Wikipedia, 21 Oct 2026. Accessed 21 Oct 2026. - other
Fastest maglev train
Guinness World Records, 21 Apr 2015. Accessed 21 Oct 2026. - other
SCMaglev
Wikipedia, 21 Oct 2026. Accessed 21 Oct 2026. - other
The European Hyperloop Center: test centre and infrastructure prototype
European Hyperloop Center, 21 Oct 2026. Accessed 21 Oct 2026. - government report
MDOT, City of Detroit and Electreon unveil nation's first public EV-charging roadway at Michigan Central
City of Detroit, 29 Nov 2023. Accessed 21 Oct 2026. - government report
Electric road E20, Hallsberg-Örebro
Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket), 21 Oct 2026. Accessed 21 Oct 2026. - government report
Autonomous Shuttle Services in Punggol Open for Public Rides from 1 April 2026
Land Transport Authority of Singapore, 4 Mar 2026. Accessed 21 Oct 2026. - news
LTA halts pilot programme for self driving public buses to explore narrower use cases for now
Mothership, 13 Oct 2026. Accessed 21 Oct 2026. - government report
Automated Bus Ramps and Infrastructural Upgrades for Autonomous Vehicles
Ministry of Transport, Singapore, 5 Nov 2025. Accessed 21 Oct 2026.