The forgotten tech marvel that changed absolutely nothing
Luke O’Sullivan
Jun 20, 2025 14:30
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In the ’70s, the UK tried to build a train that hovered. It was fast. It looked like something from science fiction. And it actually worked — at least for a while. This is the story of a wild government-backed project that aimed to outpace Japan’s Bullet Train… but ended up forgotten in a field. The British Hovertrain.
Support Drew's Hovertrain documentary here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/rtv-31-the-uk-hovertrain-documentary
Learn more about the project here: https://fenlandonfilm.co.uk/rtv-31-the-hovertrain/
Drone footage by the amazing Emmanuel Moulay https://www.instagram.com/emmanuelmoulay/
Visit Railworld: https://www.railworld.org.uk – might be your last chance to see the Hovertrain
Good source for further information: http://www.ousewashes.info/experiments/hovertrain.htm
Tom Scott's video on the Mag Lev trains in Japan: https://youtu.be/4ZX9T0kWb4Y?si=98x1jpqxhjXV6yBx
Nuclear Power shot by Kelly from Pexels
Steam train video by Clément Proust from Pexels
First Great Western video by Anthony 🙂 from Pexels
Concorde video by Kauko Helavuo https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyMFE1OiqYq2nIDGow9Lgjg
TGV video by ditjebali azzabi
Shinkansen video by Video by Leon Huang from Pexels
APT first image by Phil Sangwell https://www.flickr.com/people/12634019@N08
APT second image by Jim https://www.flickr.com/people/39670739@N05
AirTrain JFK video by FASTILY
JR Maglev image by Yosemite
My channel brings you short videos on weird history, odd facts, forgotten places, and the infrastructure that shaped them. There'll be new videos every week or two. Subscribe for more!
Science & Technology