High-speed maglev train research enters fast lane

A new prototype of a high-speed maglev train clocked 600 kilometers per hour during a trial run in Shanghai on Sunday, registering a significant research and development breakthrough.

The train was built by CRRC Sifang Co. Ltd at Qingdao in Shandong province with the cooperation of more than 30 domestic enterprises, universities and research institutions. The project kicked off in July 2016, and the high-speed trains are scheduled to roll out by the end of the year.

The successful completion of trial indicates a giant leap forward for China’s maglev train industry. After building the world’s largest highspeed railway network, the country’s train industry was eyeing this new “Chinese speed”.

The high-speed maglev train enjoys multiple advantages, such as speed, safety, environment friendliness and low maintenance cost, features that can benefit both medium- and long-distance transport.

Apart from making nationwide transport more efficient, it could promote coordinated regional development and cultivation of city clusters, and emerge as an alternative to high-speed trains and aircraft to meet people’s swift transportation needs.

In addition, the research will also promote development of China’s magnetic levitation industry, and further boost development of the country’s high-end equipment manufacturing industry and strategic emerging industries.

China used German maglev technology to launch its first commercial high-speed maglev train project in Shanghai in 2006, connecting the city’s downtown area with Pudong airport at 430 kilometers per hour. Ever since, the country has made unremitting endeavors to develop its own maglev trains. Besides this high-speed maglev train project, several other projects are in the works in several other cities.

In 2019, China’s Great Transportation Power Construction Plan listed high-speed maglev train as the frontier key technology. Research and development in high-speed maglev trains is expected to shift to top gear and make remarkable achievements in the future.

— WANG YIQING, CHINA DAILY