[RahulNagaraj]

A new maglev train said to be capable of reaching a top speed of 600 km/h has been unveiled in Qingdao, China. According to a media report, it has been developed by state-owned China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation and is considered to be the world's fastest train.



The new maglev bullet train is not only fast but is also said to emit low levels of noise and requires less maintenance, compared to other high-speed trains. Reports suggest that the new maglev train is capable of completing a 30 km journey between Shanghai's Pudong Airport and Longyand Road station in just seven and a half minutes. During this journey, the train reaches a top speed of 430 km/h.

Reports also suggest that while China has many high-speed maglev trains, there is only one commercially used maglev track. Having said that, there are a number of maglev tracks currently under construction, aimed at connecting most of its large cities, which in turn will bring down the travel expenses for commuters.

Some of the tracks currently under construction are said to connect Shanghai to Hangzhou and another linking Chengdu to Chongqing.

Reports suggest that the current high-speed trains in China reach a top speed of about 350 km/h, while planes fly at about 800 - 900 km/h. The new maglev train unveiled is aimed to bridge this crucial gap.

Source: CNN

Link to Team-BHP news

[nandrive]

Originally Posted by RahulNagaraj

The new maglev bullet train is not only fast but is also said to emit low levels of noise and requires less maintenance, compared to other high-speed trains. Reports suggest that the new maglev train is capable of completing a 30 km journey between Shanghai's Pudong Airport and Longyand Road station in just seven and a half minutes. During this journey, the train reaches a top speed of 430 km/h.

The existing maglev train reaches top speed of 431kmph during its 30km journey and it takes around 8 minutes. Depending upon the time top speed is restricted to 340kmph for few trips. I have experienced both.




Unfortunately I didn't log the 431 kmph top speed trip.

[extreme_torque]

And in India we are taking loan from the Japanese and asking them to build a bullet train section between two major cities and calling it progress. We are a few decades if not half a decade behind China now.

[nandrive]

As far as I understand this maglev serves no practical purpose other than a symbol of show of strength. Whenever I traveled it was running almost empty(check above pic). One-way trip costing around 400 to 500 INR, the maglev corporation must be spending more than 100 times the cost to customer to operate it. In India people have problem if a nice hotel is built next to a train station even if it is not loss making. With this kind of attitude we are going no where.

[no_fear]

Originally Posted by nandrive

As far as I understand this maglev serves no practical purpose other than a symbol of show of strength.

+1 on this. That Shanghai Maglev is the most useless in terms of practicality. The last stop into the city is in some suburb and you have to walk for ages before you find a taxi. It is totally inconvenient and of no use to anyone carrying luggage. Other than international tourists, and some inquisitive Chinese, I have never seen it in use by the rest of the folks.

I used it 5 times, the first 2 times as a railfan, and the remaining 3 times, I had plenty of time to kill as my flights were delayed and I decided to amuse myself by using different ways to reach Pudong airport.

Having said that, I admire China's mad progress in their bullet train network. I have covered Hong Kong - Shenzhen - Beijing in 1 day, Beijing Tianjin, Beijing - Shanghai, and it is really something.

Crowd control is same as India - everyone pushing, crowding at the counters (you have to use the manual ticket counters as you need to show a passport to buy tickets), but the trains themselves are amazing. I really hope we step up our game on this sector.

[abhishek46]

Originally Posted by nandrive

As far as I understand this maglev serves no practical purpose other than a symbol of show of strength.

Not sure what strength projection is being achieved.

The MAGLEV technology that the Chinese are using, are license built with technology from EU (Thyssen-Krupp).

[no_fear]

Originally Posted by abhishek46

Not sure what strength projection is being achieved.

@abhishek46 - I believe nandrive was talking about how Chinese media and authorities played up the arrival of China on the world stage when the train service was first introduced. There was a lot of coverage about the economic might of China and how its ushering in a whole new world and its soft power, something similar to Germany and Japan, in being an industrial giant, as per the regional media.

[arpanjha]

I too feel the existing Maglev at Shanghai is nothing but a show. Most commuters use it for amusement. As pointed out by @no_fear, it originates from a strange suburban location and ends at pudong. I remember, in order to experience this phenomenal technology for the first time, I took a super crowded metro from hongqiao to the suburban Longyang road for 1 hour. To my disappointment, let alone 430 km/hr, the train barely crossed 301 km/hr in my journey which was even short of a general Bullet train speed. I managed to grab a screenshot from a video I shot of the journey.

Below you can also see a photo I took on a Bullet train G7522 which peaked on my journey at 306 Km/hr.

I have travelled innumerous times on the bullet train, it is one of the most convenient commuting systems between cities in a large country ever. Hoping to get back once the pandemic induced restrictions are over. Attached are also a few pictures of the plush Business class seats offered in the Bullet train's business class coach. The super controllable seat is something to enjoy on a train trip.