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China HSR News And Information: Original Translation

VERY LONG
16-car CR400

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High-speed trains to go even faster
By Luo Wangshu | China Daily | Updated: 2018-07-06 07:35
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Workers check Fuxing bullet trains in the assembly workshop of CRRC Qingdao Sifang Co in Qingdao, Shandong province, in June. [Photo by Wu Huapeng/Xinhua]
Operator taps cutting-edge tech to improve passengers' experience

China's high-speed railway system is setting more ambitious goals for domestically developed Fuxing bullet trains, Lu Dongfu, head of the national railway operator, said on Thursday.

Coinciding with the 10th anniversary of the Beijing-Tianjin intercity high-speed railway on Aug 8, the Fuxing train will start running along the line at 350 kilometers per hour-up from the current 300 km/h, said Lu, general manager of China Railway Corp, at a high-speed railway forum in Beijing.

The Beijing-Tianjin intercity high-speed railway is one of China's calling cards, receiving more than 300 global political leaders from 65 countries. Russian President Vladimir Putin praised the railway when he traveled with President Xi Jinping on the line in June.

The line opened in August 2008. In 10 years, it has carried 250 million passengers.

The line is China's first railway built using domestic intellectual property and was designed to go 350 km/h.

Building and operating intelligent high-speed railways is another important goal for China.

Intelligent high-speed railways aim to incorporate first-tier technology into railway construction and operation, including cloud computing, big data and artificial intelligence, said Wang Tongjun, deputy general manager of China Railway Corp.

To help passengers get access to better Wi-Fi service on bullet trains and build an intelligent high-speed rail network, a new company-China Railway Gecent Technology-was formed on Thursday, with investment from China Railway Investment Ltd, internet giant Tencent and automobile maker Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province.

The new company will provide intelligent services to travelers, including Wi-Fi services, entertainment and online ordering.

The deep integration of the internet and the high-speed railway network will make a big impact, Tencent CEO Ma Huateng said.

An example of an intelligent high-speed railway is the one linking Beijing with Zhangjiakou, Hebei province. Next year, intelligent Fuxing bullet trains will begin to run on the Beijing-Zhangjiakou high-speed line, said Lu Dongfu, general manager of the rail operator.

The new railway is under construction and is expected to be finished in 2019. The new line will offer commutes between Beijing and Zhangjiakou, the two host cities for the 2022 Winter Olympics. It will reduce travel time to less than an hour from the current three hours.

China is testing the feasibility of making Fuxing bullet trains longer to increase passenger capacity. Longer trains are expected on the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail line in 2019, Lu said.

"The superlong Fuxing train with 17 carriages will increase passenger capacity by 7.5 percent to cater to hot demand" on the line, Lu said.

China currently has the world's longest bullet train-400 meters, with 16 carriages-which can carry about 1,200 passengers. It started running on the Beijing-Shanghai line on Sunday.

More moves will be made to benefit passengers in purchasing tickets. In a trial program, passengers will have access to electronic tickets for train travel in the last quarter of this year, and the program will be rolled out nationally in 2019, Lu said.

China's high-speed network has reached 25,000 km, accounting for about two-thirds of all high-speed networks globally.
 
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How China’s high speed trains are assembled?
CRRC
Published on Jun 24, 2018

You’ve seen the Fuxing train making its rounds around China many times, but have you seen where and how the train is made? To check out the entire journey,
 
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Super memory: Drawing a map of China’s entire railway system
CGTN
Published on Jul 6, 2018

Xin Xiaoli, a high-speed train attendant, is drawing a map of China’s entire railway system. But she is not taking cue directly from a published document. Xin says she is drawing from memory.
 
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China railway line resumes service after 16-day disruption
Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-29 02:22:54|Editor: Yurou


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Rescuers work at the accident site in a section of the Baoji-Chengdu railway caused by rain-triggered landslides in Lueyang County, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, July 28, 2018. After 16 days' of arduous efforts, the blocked section of the Baoji-Chengdu railway in Shaanxi Province following several rain-triggered landslides was repaired and reopened to traffic by 5:00 p.m. Saturday. (Xinhua/Tang Zhenjiang)

XI'AN, July 28 (Xinhua) -- A railway line in western China resumed operation Saturday, 16 days after rain-triggered landslides disrupted its service.

The Baoji-Chengdu railway line resumed full service at 5 p.m., according to China Railway Xi'an Group Co., Ltd.

A section of the line in Shaanxi Province was blocked after several landslides brought 75,000 cubic meters of dirt and rocks to bury the tracks on June 12 and 13.

More than 1,100 workers with the help of 60 rescue vehicles were involved in the clearing work.

"We will continue to beef up monitoring of the section due to frequent rains in the following days," said Yin Chaoyang of China Railway Xi'an Group Co., Ltd.

During the period, the group added more bullet trains on the Xi'an-Chengdu high-speed railway to reduce the impact on passenger flows.

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Aerial photo taken on July 28, 2018 shows rescuers working at the accident site in a section of the Baoji-Chengdu railway caused by rain-triggered landslides in Lueyang County, northwest China's Shaanxi Province.
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Rescuers work at the accident site in a section of the Baoji-Chengdu railway caused by rain-triggered landslides in Lueyang County, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, July 28, 2018.
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A train passes through a section of the Baoji-Chengdu railway repaired after it was blocked by rain-triggered landslides in Lueyang County, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, July 28, 2018.
 
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Premier Li Keqiang inspects construction work on Lhasa-Nyingchi Railway
By:China Tibet Online
update:July 31,2018

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July 31,2018--Premier Li Keqiang inspects the construction site on the Lhasa-Nyingchi section of the Sichuan-Tibet Railway on July 26. Image source: Chinese Government Online.

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July 31,2018--After the Kala Mountain Tunnel on the Lhasa-Nyingchi section of the Sichuan-Tibet Railway was connected, construction staff cheer for a group photo in the tunnel. Image source: Shangyou News.

July 31,2018--On July 26, after flying into Lhasa Gonggar Airport, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang traveled directly to a construction site on the Lhasa-Nyingchi section of the Sichuan-Tibet Railway in order to investigate the design and progress of construction. Premier Li visited the 3,500-meter-high Kala Mountain Tunnel, where he got down twice to carefully inspect the quality of construction, demanding that everything should be fit together perfectly and keep improving it.

The Kala Mountain Tunnel was officially connected on April 7 of this year. It is located within Chushur County, Lhasa Prefecture and Gonggar County, Lhoka Prefecture and is the first tunnel on the Lhasa-Nyingchi section of the Sichuan-Tibet Railway. It is also a difficult engineering project and one under constraints of a time limit. It has a total length of 4,373 meters, a maximum buried depth of 674 meters, and lies at an average elevation of 3,600 meters above sea level, so construction conditions here are complicated and difficult.

According to reports, the tunnel passes through a layer of Aeolian sand, an area susceptible to dangers of falling rock, and a section of a fractured fault, where the surrounding rock changes frequently and inrush of water is a serious issue. To deal with this, the China Railway 11th Bureau Lhasa-Nyingchi Railway Engineering Command Post actively carried out technical, strategic, and special research to tackle the problem, formulating special technical programs and measures to strengthen management and control of the construction process. Through hard work and joint efforts of all parties involved, the tunnel was connected safely and smoothly.

On June 9, the first sleeper train for the Lhasa-Nyingchi section came off the assembly line. It is expected to be officially laid on the railway track in September, and passenger operations on the whole line are expected to begin in 2021.

The Lhasa-Nyingchi Railway is Tibet’s first electric railway line. It will start in Lhasa and end in Nyingchi, with a total length of 435 kilometers and a design speed of 160 kilometers per hour. The line spans the southern valley between Mt. Gangdise and Nyenchen-Tanglha Mountain in the Himalayas, and it crosses the Yarlung Tsangpo River 16 times. More than 90 percent of the line is located at 3,000 meters above sea level on the plateau. It currently has the most complicated geological conditions and is the most difficult project in China’s construction of a railway on the plateau. It will also be a common section shared by the Sichuan-Tibet Railway, Yunnan-Tibet Railway, and Gansu-Tibet Railway lines.

The Lhasa-Nyingchi section is an important part of the Sichuan-Tibet Railway. Construction began on December 19, 2014, and the total length of the main line is 402 kilometers. The total construction period is seven years. After it is completed, southeastern Tibet will finally be connected by railway, and the line will become an important transportation installation for foreign exchange with southeastern Tibet. It has great practical significance and profound historical significance for promoting economic development and interconnection along the line.

At the same time, the route from Lhasa to Nyingchi is rich in tourism resources. After the Lhasa-Nyingchi Railway is completed, it will form a world-class landscape corridor, promoting the development of tourism resources along the route and extending tourism resources outside to attract more tourists from the Central Plains region and Yangtze River Delta to visit western China, which will cultivate new economic growth points for the areas along the route. “The Lhasa-Nyingchi Railway will relieve some of the transportation pressure on the Qinghai-Tibet Railway. Through the railway, the resources of National Highway 318 will be further developed and become more effective. The Sichuan-Tibet Railway will become another landscape avenue for China,” Kelsang Tsewang, deputy director of Development and Reform Commission Railway Office of Tibet, said.

The Sichuan-Tibet Railway is known as “the most difficult railway to build”. The line was surveyed in the 1950s but construction did not begin until 2014. The line steps are eight to eight volts, and the cumulative climb height exceeds 1,400 meters. The line will begin in Chengdu, Sichuan Province and pass through Pujiang, Ya’an, Kangding, Litang, Baiyu, Jomdo, Chamdo, Bangda Township in Baxoi County, Nyingchi, Lhoka, and finally arrive in Lhasa. It will have a total length of 1,600 kilometers. Once the Sichuan-Tibet Railway is completed, it will only take 13 hours to travel to Lhasa from Chengdu, Chongqing, or Xi’an on China Railway Highspeed (CRH) trains.
 
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Some product updates and news
CRRC Zhuzhou subsidiary's new products


From left to right
快速动力集中动车组III型
时速250公里动力分散型双层动车组
时速160公里市域动车组
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China Railway released designs for the Winter Olympics HSR
Beijing-Zhangjiakou Smart Bullet Train
Protocol trains will be released in late 2018 and start testing in 2019
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@Cybernetics @powastick @TaiShang @Huan @rott

Also, both Zhangjiakou-Datong HSR and Hohhot-Zhangjiakou HSR started tracking.
These two lines intersect in the Olympics city of Zhangjiakou to become Beijing-Zhangjiakou HSR.

Two parallel HSRs in Zhangjiakou
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Finally, tracking on Beijing-Shenyang HSR is near completion
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@Mista @Keel @JSCh @Godman @Two @Kyle Sun et al

end of this update
Construction complete on Inner Mongolia high-speed railway
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-01 11:36:46|Editor: Chengcheng


HOHHOT, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Construction was finished Tuesday on the first high-speed railway in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, according to the builder.

With a designed speed of 250 km per hour, the 287-km-long railway passes the regional capital of Hohhot, the region's Ulanqab City, and Zhangjiakou City in neighboring Hebei Province, according to Hohhot Rail of China Railway.

The railway is expected to start operations as early as the end of 2019 along with the Beijing-Zhangjiakou railway that is still under construction.

The two lines will reduce the travel time between Beijing and Hohhot from the current nine hours to less than three hours.

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Happy Birthday! China's homegrown high-speed rail marks 10th anniversary
New China TV
Published on Aug 1, 2018

China launched its first homegrown high-speed railway 10 years ago, which links the capital Beijing to the northern port city of Tianjin. Now the country has the world's biggest high-speed railway network, totalling 25,000 kilometers. The figure will be increased further to 30,000 kilometers by 2020. #HighSpeedRailway
 
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Final closure of World’s fourth highest bridge completed in southwest China
CGTN
Published on Aug 1, 2018

Constructors finished the final closure of the main girder of the Yachihe Railway Bridge, the fourth highest bridge in the world, in southwest China's Guizhou Province on Wednesday.
 
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央视新闻
31分钟前 来自 微博 weibo.com
#微镜头#【他们,是悬崖岩石的“外科医生”】侯月铁路,西起山西侯马,东至河南月山。进入汛期,侯月铁路柏枝隧道上方发现岩石脱落险情。为保证铁路安全运行,抢险人员从山顶垂降,对危险岩石进行“外科手术”:大块岩石用灌注膨胀水泥的方式将其破碎,小块岩石则使用人力击碎。戳↓致敬!@新华网
CCTV News
31 minutes ago from weibo.com

[They are the "surgeons" of the cliff] Houyue Railway, from Houma in Shanxi in the west to Yueshan in Henan in the east. In the flood season, the rock fell off and is a dangers above the Baizhi Tunnel of Houyue Railway. In order to ensure the safe operation of the railway, these workers hang down from the top of the mountain and perform “surgical operations” on dangerous rocks: large rocks are broken by injecting cement for expansion cracking, and small rocks are crushed by humans. Salute!

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China develops super railway with test speed of 1,500 kph
By Liu Xuanzun Source:Global Times Published: 2018/6/20 21:33:42

Speed will exceed Hyperloop developed by US industrialist Elon Musk
China is developing a super high-speed rail system that could reach speeds of up to 1,500 kilometers an hour, a move China is making to compete with Elon Musk's Hyperloop, an expert said.

Southwest Jiaotong University in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan Province is developing a railway test platform that would allow trains to travel as fast as 1,500 kilometers an hour, said Zhang Weihua, a professor at the university, at the 2018 World Transport Convention on Tuesday, the Beijing-based Science and Technology Daily reported on Wednesday.

The test platform is a 1,500-meter vacuum tunnel that can run experiments under various magnetic levitation conditions. The test speed will exceed the speed of sound and could theoretically reach 1,500 kilometers an hour, Zhang said.

Tests are expected to begin in April 2021 after the initial construction, the report said.

The system hopes to compete with the high-speed rail Hyperloop introduced by US industrialist Elon Musk, Sun Zhang, a railway expert and professor at Shanghai Tongji University, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

"Musk was playing down China's high speed railway by bringing up the concept of a super high-speed railway capable of running up to 1,200 kilometers an hour… China has now answered the call by announcing one capable of 1,500," Sun said.

At the same time, the world's fastest test line for vacuum high temperature superconducting magnetic levitation model trains is being built in Chengdu and is expected to be completed by the end of this year, Science and Technology Daily reported.

The test line will reportedly allow trains to travel at 400 kilometers an hour, faster than a similar test conducted by Hyperloop. The latter only reached 387 kilometers an hour.

The test line will contribute to the future test platform, as the experiment will be based on a mature vacuum technology and high temperature superconducting magnetic levitation technology, which will allow high speeds when traveling and stability when docked.

Although the development of the super high-speed railway is remarkable, China should still focus on improving current high-speed railways, as challenges in intellectualization, maintenance and lowering cost performance have a more practical impact on people's lives, Sun added.

China owns 25,000 kilometers of high-speed railway with 5,200 trains traveling at designed speeds of 350 to 380 kilometers an hour by the end of 2017, the newspaper said

"Safety should always come first… And cost performance should also be considered," Sun said, stressing the experimental nature of the super high-speed railway.
Fast forward button pressed on railroad technology
By OUYANG SHIJIA, ZHONG NAN and LUO WANGSHU | China Daily | Updated: 2018-08-13 01:45
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Deng Zigang, a professor from Southwest Jiaotong University, tests an ultra-high-speed high-temperature superconductor maglev. CHINA DAILY

Hyperloop system aims to reach speeds of up to 1,500 km/h


It takes several hours to travel by car from Hollywood to the Napa Valley in Northern California, considered one of the world's premier wine regions.

But if the dream of business magnate and Tesla CEO Elon Musk is realized, travel time between Los Angeles and San Francisco — which is beside wine county — will be reduced to just 35 minutes.

Musk wants to build a hyperloop rail system that would operate at a top speed of 1,200 kilometers per hour.

Ambitious as this project is, Chinese scientists are planning an ultrafast rail transportation system of their own that would run at up to 1,500 km/h.

This would make it possible to enjoy wine in the Napa Valley at midday and, for example, watch a baseball game just three hours later in New York City.

Zhang Weihua and his team at Southwest Jiaotong University in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, are building a high-tech tube transportation system to test methods of carrying commuters and cargo at ultrafast speeds. This will be tested at speeds of up to 1,500 km/h. The top speed is expected to be reached in April 2021.

The hyperloop idea was first proposed by Musk in 2013, but was met with a mix of enthusiasm and skepticism.

Unlike ordinary trains and tracks exposed to the atmosphere, trains operating on this system would run inside a partial vacuum. The prototype loop can raise a train above ground and enable it to run inside the tube without air resistance.

Other countries, such as France and Japan, are also speeding up their research on ultrafast trains.

"Speed has become the focus of competition," Zhang said.

Once it has been completed — in less than three years according to Zhang — all types of ultra-high-speed maglev transportation tests can be carried out, including those on high- and low-temperature superconductor maglevs.

A prototype was built to one-tenth the scale of the proposed train, he said.

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Deng Zigang, a professor from Southwest Jiaotong University, tests an ultra-high-speed high-temperature superconductor maglev. CHINA DAILY

While this system remains a target for the future, Zhang and his team have made significant progress recently and may even break a world speed record this year.

The research team is building a test line for a high-temperature superconductor maglev train in Chengdu.

The train, which will operate in a vacuum tube, is expected to undergo engineering tests this year, with speeds reaching 400 km/h, a world record for its type.

Technologies for the hyperloop system can be used in many industries, such as aerospace, railway transportation, new materials, next-generation engines and nuclear power generation, as well as in the military, said Sun Fuquan, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Science and Technology for Development.

Sun said it will not be easy for manufacturers worldwide to develop a transportation system with speeds of between 1,000 km/h and 1,500 km/h. They will need to team up with many companies and research and financial institutions from China and abroad. A large number of patents in related fields will be required.

"It will feature a transport system that reduces air resistance in a low-vacuum environment, has a supersonic shape, and reduces resistance via magnetic suspension," he said.

The current record is held by Hyperloop One, a company in the United States, which logged a speed of 387 km/h in December.

China is stepping up measures to make the hyperloop system a reality, enlisting a US startup to build the superfast vacuum tube transportation system in Tongren, a city in the southwestern province of Gui-zhou.

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A model of a bullet train is displayed at CRRC Qingdao Sifang Co, a wholly owned subsidiary of China Railway Rolling Stock Corp. MAI TIAN/FOR CHINA DAILY

Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, a company in California working on the concept of an ultra-high-speed hyperloop, signed a deal last month to build the superfast track with Tongren Transport and Tourism Investment Group, a company controlled by the Tongren government.

The route is expected to cover an initial distance of 10 km from the city to Tongren Fenghuang Airport, with an estimated investment of 2 billion yuan ($293 million).

During the second phase, the hyperloop project will extend from the city to Mount Fanjing in Tongren, covering 50 km, a distance suitable for commercial operation. Investment is set to rise to more than 10 billion yuan.

To implement the project, HTT and the Tongren government will set up a joint venture to build the hyperloop system.

It is the first deal signed by HTT with China, and marks the company's next significant step in taking a foothold in the country, a market with substantial infrastructure spending.

HTT CEO Dirk Ahlborn said: "In response to the rapidly growing urban population, China spends more than $300 billion on infrastructure construction annually. Our cooperation with a wide range of countries has proved that the superfast tube system will be a workable plan."

He expects HTT to play a bigger role in helping China to broaden its links with the rest of the world.

Tongren has partnered with the China Railway Fifth Survey and Design Institute Group Co and China Railway Maglev Transportation Investment & Construction Co to contribute 50 percent of the financing for the project. The remaining 50 percent will be provided by HTT.

The company will provide the technology and essential equipment, while the Tongren government will help the joint venture to certify the tube, establish the project and draw up regulations for the new technology.

Chen Changxu, Party chief of Tongren, said: "The super-high-speed hyperloop will be faster and cleaner, which will reduce energy consumption. Tongren used to be a less-developed area. The development of information and transportation will improve this situation, and the superfast hyperloop will be a major change to local transportation."

Wang Mengshu, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said it will create jobs not only for Tongren but the entire country to supply infrastructure and technical materials such as electronic components, wiring, construction machinery and pipelines for the project.

Earlier this year, HTT also signed deals to build commercial hyperloop systems in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, and in Ukraine.

Ahlborn said, "This year, we started the commercialization of our technology with a focus on regulations, which are the biggest hurdle remaining to bringing this new mode of transportation to the world."

The concept of a super maglev train system is an attempt to change a market dominated by bullet trains running on ground-level tracks.

High-speed rail transportation has been one of the most impressive areas in which China has made progress. In recent years, the country has built the world's largest high-speed rail network and become a world leader in providing globally competitive high-speed products and services.

By the end of last year, China's high-speed rail network had reached 25,000 km, accounting for nearly two-thirds of the world's total. The nation's railway network spans 127,000 km.

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A Southwest Jiaotong University student displays a model of a high-temperature superconductor maglev. YI HAN/FOR CHINA DAILY

China is also looking to CRRC Qingdao Sifang Co, a wholly owned subsidiary of China Railway Rolling Stock Corp — the largest rolling stock manufacturer by asset value in the world — to develop the prototype for a high-speed maglev train that could run at speeds of 600 km/h by 2020.

If put into commercial service, the train could shorten the journey time between Beijing and Shanghai to just over two hours from four-and-a-half hours. The high-speed trains operating on this route run at speeds of up to 350 km/h.

The country is also working on high-speed trains that could reach speeds of 400 km/h for the Moscow to Kazan line in Russia. The proposed 770-km line, which is planned to be operational by 2020, would span seven regions with a total population of more than 25 million.

Ever-faster speeds are being demanded, and this is why China has joined the global race to build the superfast hyperloop system.

Experts have urged the country to put more resources into the research and development of high-speed maglev train technologies to further compete with established foreign rivals amid fierce competition for export orders.

Zhao Jian, a professor of rail transportation at Beijing Jiaotong University, said: "Even though German and Canadian train makers were previously trying to hold back China's market expansion in developing wheel technology-based high-speed trains, they have failed. Also, none of them is capable of competing with China in the field of high-speed maglev trains, judging by their research and development resources."

However, Zhao said Japan remains a strong rival in both bullet train operation and development and high-speed maglev train technologies. It plans to put its 500 km/h maglev trains into operation by 2027.

"In addition to developing the hyperloop system, China must make a breakthrough to develop maglev trains that can run at 600 km/h, to ensure it can hold a decent market share globally in the long term," Zhao said.

Japanese-made maglev trains can reach a maximum speed of 603 km/h, while those designed in Germany can travel at 505 km/h.

Contact the writer at ouyangshijia@chinadaily.com.cn
 
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Fast forward button pressed on railroad technology
By OUYANG SHIJIA, ZHONG NAN and LUO WANGSHU | China Daily | Updated: 2018-08-13 01:45
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Deng Zigang, a professor from Southwest Jiaotong University, tests an ultra-high-speed high-temperature superconductor maglev. CHINA DAILY

Hyperloop system aims to reach speeds of up to 1,500 km/h


It takes several hours to travel by car from Hollywood to the Napa Valley in Northern California, considered one of the world's premier wine regions.

But if the dream of business magnate and Tesla CEO Elon Musk is realized, travel time between Los Angeles and San Francisco — which is beside wine county — will be reduced to just 35 minutes.

Musk wants to build a hyperloop rail system that would operate at a top speed of 1,200 kilometers per hour.

Ambitious as this project is, Chinese scientists are planning an ultrafast rail transportation system of their own that would run at up to 1,500 km/h.

This would make it possible to enjoy wine in the Napa Valley at midday and, for example, watch a baseball game just three hours later in New York City.

Zhang Weihua and his team at Southwest Jiaotong University in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, are building a high-tech tube transportation system to test methods of carrying commuters and cargo at ultrafast speeds. This will be tested at speeds of up to 1,500 km/h. The top speed is expected to be reached in April 2021.

The hyperloop idea was first proposed by Musk in 2013, but was met with a mix of enthusiasm and skepticism.

Unlike ordinary trains and tracks exposed to the atmosphere, trains operating on this system would run inside a partial vacuum. The prototype loop can raise a train above ground and enable it to run inside the tube without air resistance.

Other countries, such as France and Japan, are also speeding up their research on ultrafast trains.

"Speed has become the focus of competition," Zhang said.

Once it has been completed — in less than three years according to Zhang — all types of ultra-high-speed maglev transportation tests can be carried out, including those on high- and low-temperature superconductor maglevs.

A prototype was built to one-tenth the scale of the proposed train, he said.

5b70e0f5a310add1c6967308.jpeg
Deng Zigang, a professor from Southwest Jiaotong University, tests an ultra-high-speed high-temperature superconductor maglev. CHINA DAILY

While this system remains a target for the future, Zhang and his team have made significant progress recently and may even break a world speed record this year.

The research team is building a test line for a high-temperature superconductor maglev train in Chengdu.

The train, which will operate in a vacuum tube, is expected to undergo engineering tests this year, with speeds reaching 400 km/h, a world record for its type.

Technologies for the hyperloop system can be used in many industries, such as aerospace, railway transportation, new materials, next-generation engines and nuclear power generation, as well as in the military, said Sun Fuquan, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Science and Technology for Development.

Sun said it will not be easy for manufacturers worldwide to develop a transportation system with speeds of between 1,000 km/h and 1,500 km/h. They will need to team up with many companies and research and financial institutions from China and abroad. A large number of patents in related fields will be required.

"It will feature a transport system that reduces air resistance in a low-vacuum environment, has a supersonic shape, and reduces resistance via magnetic suspension," he said.

The current record is held by Hyperloop One, a company in the United States, which logged a speed of 387 km/h in December.

China is stepping up measures to make the hyperloop system a reality, enlisting a US startup to build the superfast vacuum tube transportation system in Tongren, a city in the southwestern province of Gui-zhou.

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A model of a bullet train is displayed at CRRC Qingdao Sifang Co, a wholly owned subsidiary of China Railway Rolling Stock Corp. MAI TIAN/FOR CHINA DAILY

Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, a company in California working on the concept of an ultra-high-speed hyperloop, signed a deal last month to build the superfast track with Tongren Transport and Tourism Investment Group, a company controlled by the Tongren government.

The route is expected to cover an initial distance of 10 km from the city to Tongren Fenghuang Airport, with an estimated investment of 2 billion yuan ($293 million).

During the second phase, the hyperloop project will extend from the city to Mount Fanjing in Tongren, covering 50 km, a distance suitable for commercial operation. Investment is set to rise to more than 10 billion yuan.

To implement the project, HTT and the Tongren government will set up a joint venture to build the hyperloop system.

It is the first deal signed by HTT with China, and marks the company's next significant step in taking a foothold in the country, a market with substantial infrastructure spending.

HTT CEO Dirk Ahlborn said: "In response to the rapidly growing urban population, China spends more than $300 billion on infrastructure construction annually. Our cooperation with a wide range of countries has proved that the superfast tube system will be a workable plan."

He expects HTT to play a bigger role in helping China to broaden its links with the rest of the world.

Tongren has partnered with the China Railway Fifth Survey and Design Institute Group Co and China Railway Maglev Transportation Investment & Construction Co to contribute 50 percent of the financing for the project. The remaining 50 percent will be provided by HTT.

The company will provide the technology and essential equipment, while the Tongren government will help the joint venture to certify the tube, establish the project and draw up regulations for the new technology.

Chen Changxu, Party chief of Tongren, said: "The super-high-speed hyperloop will be faster and cleaner, which will reduce energy consumption. Tongren used to be a less-developed area. The development of information and transportation will improve this situation, and the superfast hyperloop will be a major change to local transportation."

Wang Mengshu, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said it will create jobs not only for Tongren but the entire country to supply infrastructure and technical materials such as electronic components, wiring, construction machinery and pipelines for the project.

Earlier this year, HTT also signed deals to build commercial hyperloop systems in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, and in Ukraine.

Ahlborn said, "This year, we started the commercialization of our technology with a focus on regulations, which are the biggest hurdle remaining to bringing this new mode of transportation to the world."

The concept of a super maglev train system is an attempt to change a market dominated by bullet trains running on ground-level tracks.

High-speed rail transportation has been one of the most impressive areas in which China has made progress. In recent years, the country has built the world's largest high-speed rail network and become a world leader in providing globally competitive high-speed products and services.

By the end of last year, China's high-speed rail network had reached 25,000 km, accounting for nearly two-thirds of the world's total. The nation's railway network spans 127,000 km.

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A Southwest Jiaotong University student displays a model of a high-temperature superconductor maglev. YI HAN/FOR CHINA DAILY

China is also looking to CRRC Qingdao Sifang Co, a wholly owned subsidiary of China Railway Rolling Stock Corp — the largest rolling stock manufacturer by asset value in the world — to develop the prototype for a high-speed maglev train that could run at speeds of 600 km/h by 2020.

If put into commercial service, the train could shorten the journey time between Beijing and Shanghai to just over two hours from four-and-a-half hours. The high-speed trains operating on this route run at speeds of up to 350 km/h.

The country is also working on high-speed trains that could reach speeds of 400 km/h for the Moscow to Kazan line in Russia. The proposed 770-km line, which is planned to be operational by 2020, would span seven regions with a total population of more than 25 million.

Ever-faster speeds are being demanded, and this is why China has joined the global race to build the superfast hyperloop system.

Experts have urged the country to put more resources into the research and development of high-speed maglev train technologies to further compete with established foreign rivals amid fierce competition for export orders.

Zhao Jian, a professor of rail transportation at Beijing Jiaotong University, said: "Even though German and Canadian train makers were previously trying to hold back China's market expansion in developing wheel technology-based high-speed trains, they have failed. Also, none of them is capable of competing with China in the field of high-speed maglev trains, judging by their research and development resources."

However, Zhao said Japan remains a strong rival in both bullet train operation and development and high-speed maglev train technologies. It plans to put its 500 km/h maglev trains into operation by 2027.

"In addition to developing the hyperloop system, China must make a breakthrough to develop maglev trains that can run at 600 km/h, to ensure it can hold a decent market share globally in the long term," Zhao said.

Japanese-made maglev trains can reach a maximum speed of 603 km/h, while those designed in Germany can travel at 505 km/h.

Contact the writer at ouyangshijia@chinadaily.com.cn
Probably won't happen. Too many companies involved. All US president has to do is stop US company from building the hyperloop and China dream is back to square one like ZTE and semiconductor.
 
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