The rail network for high-speed trains in China covers 38,000 kilometers, and long lines for magnetic levitation trains are now to follow. The first move is already done.
A prototype was shown in 2019, and the first regular train has now been unveiled in Qingdao, east China’s Shandong Province. The manufacturer, China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC), praises the fastest ground vehicle available as a pioneering scientific and technological achievement in rail transportation in the world. The train is a unique development in China; it should form the basis for a new generation of high-speed trains.
This is a remarkable directional decision, because China has already set up a high-speed network for rail vehicles, the maglev trains need their own network of routes. According to state data, the network for high-speed trains is currently 38,000 kilometers. A rail train also built by the CRRC could reach a top speed of 486.1 km / h.
Only air resistance
The magnetic levitation train is suspended, driven and guided by electromagnetic force with no contact between the train and the rails, the resistance comes only from the air, said Liang Jianying, deputy general director and chief engineer of CRRC. As a new type of high-speed travel, the train is safe, reliable, has low noise, low vibration, large passenger capacity and requires less maintenance, he said. He could close the speed gap between high-speed trains, whose maximum operating speed is 350 km / h, and aircraft, whose travel speed is 800 to 900 km / h.
In terms of the actual travel time, the train should become the fastest means of transport in the range up to 1500 km. A journey from Beijing to Shanghai takes about 2 hours by air, 5.5 hours by high-speed train, and will only take about 2.5 hours by maglev, given travel preparation time, Liang said.
Construction of a network of magnetic routes
These trains are supposed to implement a directive of the state leadership which calls for a series of “3-hour transport circles” to be implemented between the major cities. Beijing recently announced an intelligent transport network with up to nine maglev lines, each over 1000 km in length. But even if the first train has already been completed, not a single one of the planned connections still exists. The trains will be produced on stockpile in order to enable regular train operations when the connections are completed. And that may still take a while, in January chief engineer Liang Jianying said the train would go into operation in five to ten years.
In many countries, the railroad is a miserable existence, but it is one of the fields in which Beijing seeks global technological leadership. Magnetic levitation technology opens the door to speeds that cannot be achieved with rail-bound systems. However, the growing air resistance limits an economically justifiable speed here. These trains are the first step towards real competition with air traffic.
China, the USA and South Korea are working intensively on making magnetic levitation trains run in almost vacuum tubes. Then the trains would be able to accelerate without air resistance, at the same time superconductivity should be made possible at ever higher temperatures – both factors would make travel at speeds of 1000 km / h and more possible. Since they only need electricity, climate-neutral operation is far easier than in air transport. In addition, there is no noise pollution from the aircraft. Unlike airports, these trains could start in the center of the city.
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