It is reported that China has carried out the first motion tests in the speed sleeve tunnel that it has established to develop magnetic rail train technology.
China, the tests were carried out on January 14 in the speed hive tunnel set up by the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) in the city of Datong in the northern Shaanxi province of the country.
According to the news of China Space News, the transport pods, which move without contacting the superconductor rails with magnetic levitation technology, went up to 50 kilometers per hour in three test drives and moved 210 meters at a time.
CASIC officials stated that superconducting magnetism, electrical systems, artificial intelligence security controls, wireless communication devices and sensors worked smoothly in the tests, thus paving the way for tests at higher speeds.
Authorities did not share information about whether vacuuming was done to reduce the air pressure in the speed sleeve tunnel during the tests.
Completion of the first tests in less than a year in the 2022-kilometer speed sleeve tunnel, which CASIC started to build in April 2, is considered as a remarkable progress. It was reported last year that a test run with a reduced-scale pod was carried out while the tunnel was under construction.
It is aimed to expand the speed sleeve tunnel in Datong to 60 kilometers in the coming years and to develop magnetic rail trains that can reach 1000 kilometers per hour.
While the magnetic levitation technology prevents the friction-related wear in normal and high-speed trains by allowing the trains to move without contacting the rails, the speed sleeve tunnels also reduce the friction thanks to the vacuum reduction of the air pressure, allowing the trains to reach high speeds.
Currently, high-speed trains can reach a maximum speed of 350-400 kilometers. It is envisaged that magnetic rail systems will enable much higher speeds to be achieved without wear on the infrastructure.
THE IDEA WAS FIRST ATTEMPT BY ELON MUSK
The idea of using magnetic rail technology in the field of transportation with speed sleeve tunnels was first put forward by SpaceX founder Elon Musk. Musk had founded a tunneling company called Boring Company to bring this idea to life.
Then, the founder of Virgin Galactic, British businessman Richard Branson, started working in this field by founding the company called Hyperloop One. In 2020, the company carried out the first passenger transport test with pods on magnetic rails at speeds of up to 172 kilometers per hour.
However, both companies shelved their projects in recent years due to high costs and technical difficulties, gave up the Hyperloop One passenger transportation project, and Boring Company later turned the tunnel it opened in Los Angeles to build a speed hive into a parking lot for SpaceX employees.
It is considered that China's technology institutions are determined to take further steps in this area, which they entered late.
China already has the world's largest high-speed train network, exceeding 42 kilometers. The government aims to increase the maximum speed of so-called "bullet trains" to 2025 kilometers per hour by 400.
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