China is testing its ultra-fast train: 620 km / h!

 

The prototype locomotive based on Maglev technology made its first slips on a 165-meter line in China. With its magnetic levitation technology, it would be able to reach a top speed of 620 km / h.

It was announced for 2021 and it has indeed recently made its first slips on the rails under the watchful eye of the authorities and the Chinese Railway Company. Dressed in a silver and black livery, the 21-meter-long Maglev-type locomotive prototype was tested in the city of Chengdu, southwest China on a 165-meter line. Rather than rolling, this train has the particularity of “floating” above the track, thanks to the principle of magnetic levitation.

As the friction is reduced to nothing, the speed can take off until reaching in theory 620 km / h, according to the spokesperson for Southwest Jiatong University who participated in the development of this Maglev. According to him, the train is very energy efficient and its 12 tons could be propelled with one hand.

A Maglev that comes close to the Hyperloop

This Maglev is closer to the Hyperloop project than to the magnetic levitation models used until now. It is powered by powerful magnets and its technology has been dubbed HTS, for "high-temperature superconductor". All that's missing is the empty air tube so that the train can reach speeds of over 1,000 km / h. The Maglev HTS is not expected to stay as a prototype for long. The Chinese authorities are already planning to quickly deploy a dedicated line that can link Guangzhou in the south, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong in less than 20 minutes.

This prototype is not the first of its kind, however. As early as 2003, China had developed a high-speed Maglev train that links the city center to Pudong airport. It was then a German technology.

China unrveils a train that travels at 600 km per hour!

The Chinese railway company intends to develop a prototype of a magnetic levitation train capable of moving at 600 km / h. This "Maglev" could slide over the rails from 2021.

In the China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC) plannig to launch a prototype train capable of traveling at more than 600 km / h from 2021. Even if the company has not clearly defined its intentions, it suggests that The objective would be to reach Shanghai to Beijing, that is to say approximately 1,300 km in 3 h 30 min. To achieve this speed, the train does not run but slides over the rails thanks to the principle of magnetic levitation. As with the Hyperloop, it is the absence of rolling resistance that makes it possible to reach the high speeds.

 

The train in question is known as a Maglev, which stands for magnetic levitation. China has not revealed the magnetic levitation technology it plans to use for its prototype at this time.

Who will be faster from China or Japan?

In any case, this is not really a novelty. Several trains of that type already exist and a regular line has been in service in China since 2004. It covers the 30 km which separate the Shanghai airport from the city center. Its top speed is 431 km / h.

In this area, the most advanced is the Japanese. In 2015, their prototype called JR Maglev had exceeded 600 km / h for 11 seconds. By 2027, their train should cover the 286 km that separate Tokyo and the city of Nagoya in less than 40 minutes. There remains the cost of the lines. It could cost as much as €150 million per kilometre. Far less than the cost of a TGV line, which set a new speed record of 574.8 km/h on April 3, 2007.