Chinese researchers have successfully tested the operation of a magnetically powered Maglev train in a vacuum tube on rails. The train, named Vactrain, was able to reach 129 kilometers per hour during the test carried out in a two-kilometer tube. Officials of the team that carried out the experiment explained that this was the first Maglev trial going in a 'low vacuum tube'.
The advantage of these Maglev trains, which fly in the air with magnetic power, lies in the fact that they are not subject to frictional resistance because they do not come into contact with the rails. In this way, it can reach much higher speeds than normal trains. For example, during a trial in Japan in 2015, a speed record of 603 kilometers per hour was reached with a Maglev.
However, the train in question is based on a different technology. This train is also Maglev type and is a non-contact flying train on the rails, but this time it will not encounter air resistance as it will travel in a low vacuum tube or tunnel. Theoretically, such trains would have the ability to go faster than sound, that is, to reach speeds of 500 kilometers per hour or even higher. In fact, the Hyperloop project proposed by Elon Musk in 2013 is based on this type of technology.
Vactrain was tested in a two-kilometer-long pipe in Shanxi province in northern China. The speed of 129 kilometers per hour reached in this short distance is a preliminary test result. The research team now plans to build a 60-kilometer test tunnel in Yanggao and bring their designed train to a speed of XNUMX kilometers per hour there.
After this successful trial of a Maglev train traveling in a low-vacuum tube, China could now switch to a brand new high-speed train system, enabling them to compete with aircraft.
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