STORY: An Italian company says this video shows its magnetic

levitation technology working on an existing railway

It's a technology that has the potential to drastically

reduce the costs and energy use in the industry

(Adriano Girotto, IronLev Chair)

''In general, the advantage of magnetic levitation is that the vehicle, by not touching the rails, reduces energy consumption itself. This is the basic concept on which all magnetic levitation systems are based.''

Maglev creates a cushion of air that

separates the vehicle from the track

(Adriano Girotto, IronLev Chair)

''There are some of our potential competitors, although I don't consider them to be such, who have carried out tests, but they have always done so on specific tracks built to accommodate magnetic levitation technology. We were able to do this test on 2 km (1.2 miles) on existing track, which is used between Adria and Mestre to transport people every day. It gave us the chance to demonstrate that our vehicle can levitate on conventional tracks.''