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

China's self-developed and the world's speediest maglev transportation system with a speed of 600 kilometers per hour rolled off assembly line on Tuesday in Qingdao city, East China's Shandong Province, after five years of research and development.

The high-speed maglev is currently the fastest realizable ground vehicle. It is the fastest method of surface transportation within the range of 1,500 kilometers. What is currently a 10-hour high-speed train trip from South China's Shenzhen to Shanghai will have been shortened to only 2.5 hours, once a maglev line is built.

The new maglev showcases a number of technology breakthroughs and advances, including a self-developed brake system that is 30 percent more efficient than the Shanghai maglev train, which means that the braking distance is reduced from about 16 kilometers to only 10 kilometers, CRRC Qingdao Sifang Rolling Stock Research Institute Co (CRRC SRI) told the Global Times on Tuesday.

CRRC SRI provides the braking system, coupler, anti-vibration system, electricity system, passenger information system (PIS) and other core components of the 600 km/h maglev.

The CRRC technicians spent 19 months developing the magnetic poles for whirlpool brake on the maglev train, which can be recycled in an -25C to 170C environment and can withstand vibration.

Power supply system is one of the key systems of high-speed maglev, which plays an important role in the safe operation of the train. When the speed exceeds 100 km/h, non-contact power supply is adopted. The high-speed maglev train receiver system developed by CRRC SRI has good environmental adaptability and can work smoothly in the temperature range of -25C to 45C, Chinese experts said.

To guarantee smooth telecommunication during a high-speed run, 5G is reserved for the Wi-Fi system on the maglev, and maglev passengers will be able to charge their mobile phones wirelessly.

Lu Huapu, director of the Transportation Research Institute of Tsinghua University, told the Global Times on Monday that the development of the high-speed transportation system helps realize China's goal of creating "3-hour transportation circles" between major cities, which was put forward in a 2019 guideline.

The 600 km/h maglev transportation system will also help consolidate China's leading position in high-speed railway technology, Lu said, adding that China, along with Germany, Japan, the UK, Canada and the US, are the main countries that are engaged in the development of maglev trains.

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.

But some cities are planning to build high-speed maglev lines, and have entered the stage of research and demonstration, including Shanghai-Hangzhou Maglev Line and Chengdu-Chongqing Maglev Line.