We are solving the problems with rail-based transport.
We are developing maglev technology which can be cheaply fitted onto current railways, allowing for faster trains, higher line capacity, less noise, less maintenance and better reliability.
Upgrading a railway line to support Haku Maglev will result in 2x faster transit, 3-5x greater capacity on the railway, and 2x lower maintenance costs and all this at an initial investment of about 20x lower than high-speed rail or existing maglevs.
Trains are great. They are extremely energy efficient and are really good at bringing a lot of people to their destinations. But there is the problem of capacity, and that of speed.
We believe trains are not living up to their full potential in terms of travel time, resulting in not as many people using public transit as expected. For example, in the Netherlands, with one of the most dense and elaborate train networks in the world, only 5% of people use public transit for commuting. The problem lies in speed, unreliability issues due to maintenance, and problems with moving parts in infrastructure. Haku Maglev solves all these problems.
Furthermore, in high density areas such as the Netherlands, there is the problem of having maxed out the capacity of the rail network. Conventional trains are limited by the friction between rail and wheel in order to brake the train. And this friction is unpredictable: moisture in the air or rain may result in lower friction. Therefore, train operators have to assume the worst case scenario by limiting the minimum distance allowed between trains to be about 2.5 km. With Haku Maglev, we expect to make that distance much smaller resulting in an overall capacity increase of about 3-5x compared to conventional rail, while delivering about 2x the speed.
Making good public transportation affordable.
Unlike other maglev or any existing high-speed rail designs, Haku Maglev works by upgrading existing railway lines. By upgrading instead of building new lines, we do not need to buy new land, expand stations, or build entirely new foundations for the rail.
Haku Maglev rails will be compatible with conventional trains allowing for freight trains to make use of the rails during night time and normal passenger trains to share the same railway platforms with Haku Maglev. This results in a system which is very easy to integrate into existing railway networks.
Haku Maglev brings the cost of installing high-speed transit from €20,000,000 to about €2,000,000 per kilometer.
Why maglev though?
Maglev solves the problem with vibrations induced by wheel-rail contact on conventional rails.
Maglev is less weather dependent. Slippery rails are a problem for conventional trains resulting in trains having to be further apart from one another and therefore resulting in a much lower capacity on railways.
Maglev distributes its weight uniformly across its entire length resulting in less strain on infrastructure.
No need to build entirely new infrastructure: with high-speed rail for example, you need to build entirely new sets of rails because of its lacking ability in making sharp turns. Haku Maglev doesn’t need that because it uses active guidance control systems which can account for centrifugal forces in turns.
Join The Stephenson Project
Build a 1.5 m prototype of the cutting edge Haku Maglev system.
Present your work at Maglev2026 in Qingdao, China.
Timeline
Haku is a fast growing startup working towards building a train that can truly change the way people see public transit from something boring, old, unreliable, slow, and smelly, to something exciting, affordable, and reliable. Public transit deserves some love ♥ and we are here to give it.
2025 — Small scale prototype with full theoretical model and patenting of Haku Maglev technology.
2026 — Four-seater maglev car on existing rails.
2028 — First version built of Haku City.
2030 — Release of Haku City.
2034 — Finished construction of first line of Haku Maglev.
