Chinese High-Speed Train expected to reach speeds of 620 km p/h

BEIJING, China: A prototype of a new high-speed Maglev train capable of reaching speeds of 620 kph (385 mph) has been unveiled in China in Chengdu, Sichuan Province.

The sleek 21-meter-long (69 feet) prototype runs on high-temperature superconducting (HTS) power that makes it look as if the train is floating along the magnetized tracks.

Professor He Chuan, vice president of Southwest Jiaotong University, which worked on the prototype, told reporters that the train could be “operational” within 3 to 10 years.

Sichuan has rich and rare earth resources, which is very beneficial to our construction of permanent magnet tracks, thus promoting the faster development of experiments.

China is home to the world’s largest high-speed rail network, which stretches over 37,000 kilometers, and the fastest commercially operating train, the Shanghai Maglev.

The country’s first high-speed Maglev train began operating in 2003, with a top speed of 431 km p/h, linking Shanghai Pudong Airport and Longyang Road in east Shanghai.

In 2021, China began operating a new 174-kilometer high-speed railway line connecting Beijing with 2022 Winter Olympics host city Zhangjiakou, to reduce the travel time between the two locations from three hours to 47 minutes.

Earlier this month, the country unveiled a bullet train specifically designed to withstand freezing temperatures, the CR400AF-G train, which can travel up to 350 km p/h in weather as cold as -40 degrees Celsius, and will run on routes between Beijing, Shenyang and Harbin.

China News Network / ABC Flash Point News 2022.