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China Building Test Track for Superspeed Maglev
18 August 2021
EIRNS—Construction will soon start on the test line for the world’s fastest overland vehicle—a low-vacuum maglev high-speed train with a speed of up to 1,000 kmh—in Datong, north China’s Shanxi Province, as preparation work is completed, the local government said over the weekend. The latest development marks China’s rapid rise as a global leader in high-speed rail technology and manufacturing. A 600-kmh maglev train rolled off the assembly line last month in Qingdao, east China’s Shandong Province. The test line is part of the laboratory work for the low-vacuum magnetic levitation high-speed train project. It will provide a test platform for the key technology of low-vacuum pipeline magnetic levitation for ultra-fast vehicles that can move more rapidly than airplanes, at a ground speed of about 800 kmh. The first phase of the project will involve a 2-km line scheduled to be completed by June 2022. Equipment installation and tests will begin in July 2022. Another 15-km test line will be built within two years. The total plan calls for a “railway” line of 60 km, according to project information posted on the website of Datong’s municipal government on Aug. 14. Low-vacuum magnetic levitation high-speed trains use superconducting magnetic levitation technology to cut off ground contact and eliminate friction resistance, to achieve speeds of more than 1,000 kmh. “Maglev and hyperloop systems are only part of the new era of transportation. A route of at least 50 km is necessary to test various aspects, including the vehicle itself, as well as signals, command systems and routines,” Wang Dashui, a railway transport engineer, told Global Times. In research and development, China holds 43.52% of the world’s maglev patents, ranking first, and well above Japan’s 20.57%, according to a report sent to Global Times by intelligent property data service provider PatSnap. [rap]
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