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World's first 'maglev' elevator ready by 2008: Japanese companyThe Associated Press The world's first elevators powered by magnetic levitation will debut as early as 2008, a Tokyo-based company said Tuesday. Toshiba Elevator and Building Systems Corp. will employ so-called maglev technology -- capable of suspending objects in mid-air through the combination of magnetic attraction and repulsion -- to drive the lifts, it said in a statement. The maglev elevators will be quieter and more comfortable and will travel 300 meters (984 feet) per second -- not as fast as the company's conventional lifts that move 1,010 meters (3,314 feet) a second, Toshiba said. Maglev technology has already been used to develop high-speed trains. The only passenger-carrying maglev train in the world links Pudong International Airport in Shanghai, China, to the city center at speeds of 430 kilometers (267 miles) per hour. A maglev shuttle in Birmingham, U.K. was abandoned in 1995 after 11 years in operation because of technical glitches. |