Progress of maglev train & technology in China

[cirr]

China Builds First Urban Maglev Train

2014-05-16 17:06:07 CRIENGLISH.com Web Editor: Mao

China Builds First Urban Maglev Train


A running maglev train is seen in Shanghai on May 6, 2006. [File photo: Xinhua]


Construction for China's first domestically-developed maglev train began in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province on May 16, 2014, according to Hunan Daily.

The urban maglev train, with a maximum speed of 120 kilometers per hour, will link Changsha South Railway Station to the city's Huanghua Airport with a route length of 18.52 kilometers.

The train is expected to start passenger service in the first half of 2016.

"Compared with traditional rail transport, the maglev train has so many advantages as it floats above its rails by about 0.8 centimeters with the use of magnetic force," said Liu Youmei, a renowned engineering expert on track design.

"Firstly, there is no friction, and little noise or vibration; secondly, it eliminates the risk of derailment; and lastly, it is an eco-friendly method of transportation without emissions," Liu added.

Construction costs for the Changsha maglev line are expected to come to about 226.5 million yuan (36.26 million USD) per kilometer, less than half the cost of constructing a metro line.

Reports claim that ticket prices for the maglev train will be incredibly affordable to a wide range of the city's population thanks to its low construction cost.

"Passengers will be able to check in at the South Railway Station, and then board at the airport when the maglev train starts operation," said Liu Zhiren, general manager of the Hunan Airport Management Group Corp.



Passengers queue up to get on the maglev train in Shanghai on May 6, 2006. [File photo: Xinhua]

 

[tranquilium]

Good news. Is there any chance for the same technology to be applied to inter-city connections? 226.5 million yuan per km is almost twice the cost of high speed rail, but it would have less fuel cost since it use electricity instead of fossil fuel. It is a great deal slower though, so inter-province travel may be infeasible with the current technology.

 

[JSCh]

First China-made maglev line runs for test
By Huang Jin (People's Daily Online) 15:09, October 14, 2015

Accompanied by the whistle sound, the first China-made low-speed maglev train left the Changsha South Station and completed a test run successfully on Oct. 6, 2015, which marks that China has made important progress on the application of the internationally advanced low-speed maglev train.​

The low-speed maglev train developed by China CSR Zhuzhou company, with the highest speed of 100 km and maximum capacity of 60 passengers, rolled off the production line in January 2012.

On May 16, 2014, construction of a maglev line from Changsha South Railway Station to Huanghua International Airport was started. The line is expected to be completed by the end of 2015. It is a first commercial maglev line completely developed by China.

Changsha maglev line covers a total distance of 18.5 km, with an investment about 4.19 billion yuan. With the maglev line, it takes only 8 minutes for passengers to go from the railway station to the airport. Three stations including Changsha South Railway station, Langli station and Huanghua Airport station will be put into operation firstly.

"The low speed maglev with low noise can be used in the inner city, and has broad prospects," said Luo Huajun, manager of the low-speed maglev project from CSR Zhuzhou.

 

[Beast]

100km per hour? That is bad.

 

[Jlaw]

100km per hour? That is bad.

It's designed for lower speed and less noise. Perfect for urban area

 

[Beast]

It's designed for lower speed and less noise. Perfect for urban area

No point going for Maglev if with this pathetic speed. Maglev cost many times more than conventional HSR. But the reason for using Maglev is to achieve speed greater speed than coventional wheels. With this low speed, if defeat the first place of using Maglev in the first place.

 

[GS Zhou]

4 billion yuan for a 18 km route is incredibly cheap!

 

[bobsm]

Good news. Here is a report from last year on the project.

Maglev trains speeding toward greener future
Updated: 2014-02-19 08:52
By Zhong Nan in Tangshan, Hebei (China Daily USA)

China CNR Corp Ltd, one of the country's biggest train makers, will deliver by year's end 10 six-coach maglev trains to Beijing's subway system for what will be the country's second commercial urban maglev rail route.

Anxious to tackle environmental problems caused by heavy car use, coal-burning industries and the fast pace of urbanization, Beijing is building a maglev urban rail route - the Daitai line, also known as the S1 - that will start at North Beijing's Haidian district, pass through Shijingshan district and end in Mentougou district in Beijing's western outskirts. The 11-kilometer line will become operational some time between September and December 2015.

"Many of the opportunities we are being presented with arise from China's fast wealth accumulation and urbanization. Many cities are upgrading their urban rail systems, including introducing green technologies, extending their subways and building new ones," said Hou Zhigang, general manager of Tangshan Railway Vehicle Co Ltd, a main subsidiary of CNR in Hebei province.

In comparison with other types of urban rail transportation, maglev trains are quiet and can achieve high speed because they don't actually ride on rails with wheels but hover centimeters above the track through the use of magnets, avoiding slower speeds caused by friction. Maglev is an abbreviation of magnetic levitation.

The world's first maglev line was launched in Shanghai in 2002, connecting a metro station to Pudong International Airport. With speeds up to 430 kph, its 30-kilometer route takes less than eight minute to travel.

Unlike the high-speed maglev technology being used in Shanghai or Germany, Beijing's S1 line will adopt a low-speed maglev version that can run at a top speed of 100 kph, considered fast enough for the city. All the high-end trains will be designed and built at CNR's Tangshan plant.

Because the train produces zero emissions unlike conventional trains that run on diesel or coal, Hou said the maglev train is ideal and environmentally friendly for large-scale transportation, especially in major cities or tourism hot spots like Beijing. Its manufacturing cost is also 20 percent less than a conventional light-rail train.

"The populations of many of China's second- and third-tier cities are much bigger than those of such cities in Europe or the United States such as Stockholm, Madrid and San Francisco so building and enlarging subway networks is also a practical way of keeping up with China's fast urbanization process," said Hou.

The National Development and Reform Commission, approved subway and light rail construction projects to be built in 37 Chinese cities between 2012 and 2015, with a total investment of 840 billion yuan ($134 billion).

A further 21 railway and highway projects, 10 environmental protection projects, 76 clean energy projects and several hydropower station and airport construction projects also have been approved in the past two years.

In addition, CNR is hoping to grab a bigger share of China's booming subway and light-rail market. It supplied more than 2,000 subway and light-rail vehicles and carriages to 12 Chinese cities, including Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Chongqing, in 2013.

The market is still enthusiastic this year: CNR signed a 939 million yuan deal and a 320 million yuan contract with Beijing Subway and Chongqing Rail Transit Group for a comprehensive number of underground and urban light-rail products in recent months.

Sun Fuquan, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Science and Technology for Development in Beijing, said even though China's gross domestic product growth was lower last year than in previous ones, public transport and other infrastructure investment can effectively add to prosperity.

The importance of improving the environment was underscored by figures from the Ministry of Environmental Protection this month that showed more than 74 percent of Chinese cities failed to meet new air quality standards.

Maglev trains speeding toward greener future|Business|chinadaily.com.cn

 

[AndrewJin]

100km per hour? That is bad.

It's a short airport line, to repeat the mistake in Shanghai is stupid. 100km/h for suburban lines is ideal. Plus the investment is really low.

 

[huskie]

No point going for Maglev if with this pathetic speed. Maglev cost many times more than conventional HSR. But the reason for using Maglev is to achieve speed greater speed than coventional wheels. With this low speed, if defeat the first place of using Maglev in the first place.

Wrong. construction cost of low speed maglev is actually lower than metro.
Wrong again. that is only one advantage of high speed maglev. low speed maglev has some unique advantages over metro or light rail.

You need to understand high speed maglev and low speed maglev are two completely different transportation modes.

It's a short airport line, to repeat the mistake in Shanghai is stupid. 100km/h for suburban lines is ideal. Plus the investment is really low.

Shanghai maglev is an experimental piece. It was bought and constructed to see if high speed maglev works for Beijing Shanghai HSR. and the results prove that it doesn't. I think it better be dismantled and replaced by a conventional HSR(which is being planned).

FYI, the average construction cost of one km of metro in Changsha is 0.5 billion yuan. 18 km of metro would cost 9 billion yuan.

 

[huskie]

It (low speed maglev) is indeed a success, and demonstrated very good Chinese manufacturing and engineering. Compared to light rail or metro, low speed maglev is less noisy, less vibrating, cheaper to build, can deal with smaller curve radius (very crucial as this gives extreme flexibility in dense urban areas), performs better in mountainous areas.

 

[AndrewJin]

Wrong. construction cost of low speed maglev is actually lower than metro.
Wrong again. that is only one advantage of high speed maglev. low speed maglev has some unique advantages over metro or light rail.

You need to understand high speed maglev and low speed maglev are two completely different transportation modes.


Shanghai maglev is an experimental piece. It was bought and constructed to see if high speed maglev works for Beijing Shanghai HSR. and the results prove that it doesn't. I think it better be dismantled and replaced by a conventional HSR(which is being planned).

FYI, the average construction cost of one km of metro in Changsha is 0.5 billion yuan. 18 km of metro would cost 9 billion yuan.

Yes, I know that. I am glad high-speed railway won over 400km/h maglev which is economically disastrous. I'd like to see more low-speed maglev serving suburban commuters or airports. Another achievement from Zhuzhou Institute of CRRC!

 

[TopWater]

Yes, I know that. I am glad high-speed railway won over 400km/h maglev which is economically disastrous. I'd like to see more low-speed maglevs serving suburban commuters or airports. Another achievement from Zhuzhou Institute of CRRC!

China's achievements in rail in the past decade is astounding. This new developement with maglev, especially the reported indigenous design, is another feather in the hat of China's rail acomplishments. It's just another step forward with much more to come I think.

 

[Tiger Genie]

It's a short airport line, to repeat the mistake in Shanghai is stupid. 100km/h for suburban lines is ideal. Plus the investment is really low.

why do you call it stupid? I loved the ride. May be it is not cos efficient ? (the few times I rode it it was only may be 10% full if that)

 

[AndrewJin]

why do you call it stupid? I loved the ride. May be it is not cos efficient ? (the few times I rode it it was only may be 10% full if that)

We have metro line 2, unless the maglev is further extended to hongqiao HSR transport hub. Only tourists will start from Longyang Road which is not even in downtown.