Vacuum train in China - a new speed record: the Americans failed

The prototype of the future train created by the Chinese moves faster than the Russian Sapsan by about 2,5 times. This is a significant achievement, but not final. How was it possible to achieve such a result? It is based on the concept of a tube with a vacuum, inside which a composition on a magnetic levitation rushes.


The idea is not new and appeared back in 1909. The company Hyperloop One (USA) was actively involved in its development. The plans included organizing a vacuum railway in America, India and Saudi Arabia. Testing of engines for such a train, as well as tunnels, has already taken place. However, last December there was information that the company was stopping all work on this project due to lack of...money.


In China, the idea is being successfully implemented: the state organization CASIC is engaged in an unusual type of transport. The completed train received its own name - T-Flight. Its testing is carried out in a pipe two kilometers long (Shanxi province) and 6 m in diameter. Its internal surface is almost perfectly smooth - the error does not exceed 0,3 mm. Details about the latest test are not reported: it is only known that the train reached a speed higher than last year’s, which was 623 km/h. Soon there will be testing at a cruising speed of 1000 km/h (maximum - up to 4000 km/h) in a pipe (it is still under construction) 60 km long.