The track magnets used in maglev systems are electromagnetic coils, so no ferromagnetic material is needed.

Most train magnets are also electromagnets, often using liquid nitrogen-cooled superconductors to lower the energy required to create such large fields (and hence currents). Some newer trains do use permanent magnets, usually a neodymium-iron-boron alloy, but it is only recently that permanent magnets have been arranged into sufficiently powerful arrays, called Halbach arrays.