China is planning to build a 1,000 kph locomotive, which would nearly double the current record speed. (Source: China Daily)
The new train design revives a concept bandied about since the 1960s -- a vacuum tube train. To date the concept has never been commercially implemented. (Source: Capsule Pipelines)
Design would almost double today's record speed
We've
discussed a couple of times the U.S.'s growing
gap in high speed rail compared to China. As fossil
fuels become more scarce, more expensive, and more dangerous from a
political standpoint, mass transit solutions look increasingly
appealing. High
speed rail is particularly promising as it promises not only
to reduce fossil fuel use, but also to get you to your destination
faster.
Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences
and Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) reportedly are preparing a
record-shattering 1,000 kilometer per hour train, according
to the Beijing
Times.
The
new trains will make use of a vacuum tube to reduce friction losses.
They will first build a prototype vacuum magnetic suspension
train capable of traveling between 500 and 600 kph. That
gives it a shot at breaking the record set by Japan's JR-Maglev
train, which achieved a speed of 581 km/h (361 mph).
The record for a traditional railed train was set by France's TGV at
574.8 km/h (357.18 mph).
After the prototype, the
group plans to implement a smaller train capable of speeds of as much
as 1,000 kph. Shen Zhiyun, a member of the research
team, comments,
"The speed can be reached by making vacuum pipelines for maglev
trains to run through, with no air resistance."
Daryl
Oster, who owns the U.S. patent on evacuated tube (vacuum) rail, now
works at the CAE. Along with Zhiyun and another researcher,
Zhang Yaoping, he is leading efforts to deploy the technology.
The team hopes to begin laying ETT rail lines within the next ten
years.
It would use less steel than current trains, but would
be slightly more expensive. China is targeting a cost of 200
million yuan ($29.54M USD) per kilometer for its traditional
rail. The Evacuated Tube Transport (ETT) rail would
cost approximately 210 to 220 million yuan ($31.0M USD to
$32.49M USD) per kilometer.
Currently the planned trains
travel at 350 kph. A cost increase of 5 to 10 percent seems a
fair tradeoff to score nearly twice the speed. It's just one
more example of how ambitious China is when it comes to high speed
rail.
"Death Is Very Likely The Single Best Invention Of Life" -- Steve Jobs
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