BEIJING – China’s pursuit of high-speed maglev trains has taken a furtherstep with the start of construction of a test line that can handle speedsof up to 1,000 kilometers per hour in North China’s Shanxi Province.
This was the latest step by China following the commissioning of maglevtrains that run at up to 620 kilometers per hour earlier this year, whileother nations such as Japan and US are also ramping up efforts on theresearch and development (R&D) and trials of vacuum maglev trains.
The high-speed maglev railway, undertaken by North University of China andthe Third Research Institute at China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp,leverages low vacuum and magnetic suspension processes, Global Timesreported.
These technologies mean trains will have the potential to travel far fasterthan the current 350 kilometers per hour high-speed trains, Chinese mediareported, citing Ma Tiehua, dean of North Central University’s School ofElectrical and Control Engineering.
Ma predicted that the speed of this futuristic transport mode is likely toexceed 1,000 kph, and reach three or four times that level in the future.
Like something out of science fiction, US-based Virgin Hyperloop conducteda test of its ultra-fast transportation system with human passengers lastyear.
Read Top Stories
The company was founded in 2014 on the premise of making Tesla and SpaceXCEO Elon Musk’s vision of an ultrafast transportation system ofmagnetically levitating pods traveling through nearly airless tubes areality.
While multiple companies and institutes are working on the niche transportdesign, some academics have different ideas.
The “super bullet maglev train” with a maximum speed of 620 kilometers perhour, is designated to fill the speed gap between the current high-speedrailway trains and airplanes that fly at 800 kilometers per hour.
