Skip to main content

China tests 600km/h maglev vehicle in Shanghai

A maglev vehicle capable of 600km/h has run on a line at Tongji University
By David Arminas June 29, 2020 Read time: 1 min
The Shanghai Transrapid, in action here, was the world’s first commercial high-speed maglev (© Yinan Zhang/Dreamstime)

A maglev vehicle capable of 600km/h has conducted its first test run on a line at Tongji University in Shanghai, according to Chinese media.

The trial took place June 21, noted a report by China Global Television Network (CGTN), a Beijing-based state-run media outlet. The news was passed on by the International Maglev Board.

Engineers at the research and development centre of the state-run CRRC Qingdao Sifang – makers of high-speed trains – said the maglev (magnetic levitation) vehicle showed stable suspension and guidance during the multi-condition tests.

All key technical indicators met the design specifications and expectations.

The next step is to move the train into the marketplace, said the CGTN report.

China has said that it aims to put a 500km/h maglev line into commercial operation by 2025.

A Shanghai-Hangzhou 600km/h high-speed maglev has been included in the 10 so-called super transport projects within the province in the coming years.

The project, with CRRC Qingdao Sifang being responsible for the technical aspects, has input from more than 30 enterprises, universities and research institutes.

Scientific cooperation with German universities and German industry supports the development, according to CGTN.

Related Content

  • December 16, 2016
    Video analytics enhances urban rail safety
    David Crawford explores some promising innovations for North American commuters. North America is experiencing a surge in commuter rail and metro development. The US now has 75 light rail and metro networks in operation; and California, in particular, is actively exploring ways of developing the state’s existing passenger rail operations into a fully integrated system.
  • April 29, 2015
    NOCoE delivers data for diligent DOTs
    David Crawford talks to Dennis Motiani about the role of the new National Operations Centre of Excellence. Consolidating the collective experience of the US transportation system’s management and operations (TSM&O) community, streamlining its information gathering, while cutting research times and costs are the key drivers behind the country’s new National Operations Centre of Excellence (NOCoE). Launched in January at the annual meeting of the Transportation Research Board (TRB), this sets out to be a sin
  • July 27, 2012
    Measuring vehicle lengths with a single loop - promising results
    District 7 of Caltrans has been conducting trials to see whether the use of a single inductive loop to measure vehicle lengths and so identify heavy trucks is feasible. So far, the results have been very promising, according to Lead Transportation Engineer Steve Malkson. Between them, the adjoining ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the US's two biggest, cover some 10,700 acres (43km2) and 68 miles (109km) of waterfront.
  • June 4, 2012
    Successful Bio-DME field tests point to a cleaner transport system
    Volvo Trucks has announced it is running successful field tests with vehicles powered by bio-DME, a fuel that can be produced cost- and energy-efficiently from biomass. Since last autumn, ten specially adapted Volvo trucks have been operating on Swedish roads using the fuel which reduces carbon emissions by 95 per cent compared with conventional diesel. The field tests have now reached the halfway point and the results so far have both met, and exceeded, expectations.