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World's First 600km/h High-Speed Maglev Train to Make Public Debut in Qingdao

posted by martyb on Tuesday July 20 2021, @07:21PM   
from the getting-there-before-you-leave dept.

upstart writes:

World's first 600km/h high-speed maglev train to make public debut in Qingdao:

The world's first high-speed maglev transportation system running at a speed of 600 kilometers per hour [(372 mph)] will make its public debut in Qingdao, East China's Shandong Province, on Tuesday.

As the fastest ground vehicle available so far, the system, self-developed by China, is a cutting-edge scientific and technological achievement in the field of rail transit in the world, said China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC) Qingdao Sifang Co., LTD., an industrialization base for manufacturing high-speed trains in China.

The high speed maglev train will be suspended, driven and guided without contact between the train and the track by means of electromagnetic force, with its resistance only coming from the air, said Liang Jianying, deputy general manager and chief engineer of CRRC Sifang.

As a new mode of high-speed traffic, the train is safe, reliable and has low noise pollution, small vibration, large passenger capacity and needs less maintenance, he said, saying that it can fill the speed gap between high-speed rail, whose maximum operating speed is 350 km/h [(217 mph)], and aircraft, whose cruising speed is 800 to 900 km/h [(500 to 560 mph)].

[...] Although the maglev prototype train is about to be rolled off the production line, there is no track line for the 600 km/h high speed maglev train in China yet.

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Original Submission

• Re:Japan already has this Re:Japan already has this (Score: 1, Offtopic) by FatPhil on Tuesday July 20 2021, @08:12PM (2 children)

  by FatPhil (863) <{pc-soylent} {at} {asdf.fi}> on Tuesday July 20 2021, @08:12PM (#1158407) Homepage

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• Re:Japan already has this (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @08:38PM

  by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 20 2021, @08:38PM (#1158426)

  Locally enabling javascript is unnecessary.

  https://archive.is/uHXze [archive.is]

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• Re:Japan already has this (Score: 3, Informative) by PinkyGigglebrain on Wednesday July 21 2021, @03:19AM

  by PinkyGigglebrain (4458) on Wednesday July 21 2021, @03:19AM (#1158601)

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  Just tried it with noscript running and everything blocked by default, gave me the plain text of the story with no photo.

  Faster Than a Speeding Bullet: Japanese Maglev Train Sets World Speed Record

  The Japanese maglev train set another world record Tuesday during a test run, topping 373 miles per hour. Japan hopes to sell the technology overseas and have a train on (or levitating above) the tracks by 2027.
  Agence France-Presse
  Apr 21, 2015

  Japan's state-of-the-art maglev train clocked a new world speed record Tuesday during a test run near Mount Fuji, smashing through the 373 mph mark, as Tokyo races to sell the technology abroad.

  The seven-car maglev train -- short for "magnetic levitation" -- hit a top speed of 374 mph, and managed nearly 11 seconds at more than 375 mph, operator Central Japan Railway said.

  The new record came less than a week after the company recorded a top speed of 367 mph, surpassing its own 2003 record of 361 mph.

  The maglev hovers about four inches above the tracks and is propelled by electrically charged magnets.

  About 200 train buffs gathered for Tuesday's record-setting run. "It gave me chills. I really want to ride on the train," an elderly woman told public broadcaster NHK as the carriage rocketed past her. "It's like I witnessed a new page in history."

  An AFP reporter who previously rode on the super-speed train said the experience was like taking off in a plane, with the feeling of g-force gathering as the speedometer is pushed ever higher.

  "The faster the train runs, the more stable it becomes," Yasukazu Endo, who heads the maglev test center southwest of Tokyo, told reporters. "I think the quality of the train ride has improved."

  JR Central wants to have a train in service in 2027, plying the 177-mile route between Tokyo and the central city of Nagoya.

  The service, which would run at a top speed of about 310 mph, is expected to connect the two cities in only 40 minutes, less than half the present journey time in Japan's already speedy bullet trains.

  Travel Times Cut in Half, U.S. Expansion Possible

  By 2045, maglev trains are expected to link Tokyo and Osaka in just one hour and seven minutes, slashing the journey time in half.

  However, construction costs for the dedicated lines are astronomical -- estimated at nearly $100 billion just for the stretch to Nagoya, with more than 80% of the route expected to go through costly tunnels.

  Japan is looking to sell its shinkansen bullet and maglev train systems overseas, with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe acting as a traveling salesman in his bid to revive the economy partly through infrastructure exports.

  He is due in the United States this weekend, where he will be touting the technology for a high-speed rail link between New York and Washington.

  Last year, Abe took Caroline Kennedy, the U.S. ambassador to Japan, on a test ride.

  "This technology is something that will bring great benefits to Japan and hopefully the United States one day," Kennedy said after the ride.

  The maglev train is a contender for President Barack Obama's multi-billion-dollar national high-speed rail project.

  Abe said Japan would not charge licensing fees in the U.S. for the train, a strong incentive for Washington to select the system for a high-speed rail line between Washington D.C., and Baltimore.

  The proposed 37-mile link will represent the first phase in the federal government's plan to connect the capital and Boston.

  Japan started its study on the maglev train system as a national project in 1962, and succeeded in running at a speed of 37 mph a decade later.

  by Natsuko Fukue

  --
  "Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."

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