A Chinese Maglev Revolution is Coming...

if there's one country that really gets infrastructure it's China one of the few Nations on Earth that has a habit of regularly announcing vast and bewildering Mega projects of all stripes and more often than not actually sees them through to completion It Feels Like Only Yesterday that we were announcing a grand plan to completely revolutionize rail travel in the country with the construction of a vast and comprehensive network of high-speed lines that covered the entire nation which is no small feat given that China it's quite big yet despite the skepticism and even mockery that they received from some Western pundits at the time here we are in 2024 and sure enough China now has 28,000 miles that's 45,000 km of the stuff enough to make the majority of High-Speed Rail in the world period Chinese and yet it appears as though Beijing is not satisfied with merely just blowing the rest of the world out of the water when it comes to Convention or rail as they are currently in the nent stages of doing it all over again with another much more sci-fi type of rail magav so let's have a look and see what this is all about shall [Music] we so let's get things started by clarifying some crucial things that will underpin this whole video that being I mean what is a maglab train to put it simply a maglab train does exactly what it says on the tin it's a a train that uses magnets mag to levitate Lev over the tracks it uses rather than sit on them with those archaic wheel things that trains have otherwise used since the black and white days of top hats and mutton chops to go into more detail however magv trains use two different sorts of systems electromagnetic suspension EMS and electrodynamic suspension EDS EMS uses electromagnets built into the train itself which interact with ferromagnetic rails when energized these electromagnets create a magnetic field that repels the train from the rail lifting it into a levitated state Happy Days this system requires stringent active control to keep the train stable and maintain a consistent gap between the train and the track because should the Train's electromagnets fail or the magnetic field between the track or the train be disrupted well the people on board are not going to have a very good day let's put it that way by contrast EDS employs superconducting magnets on the train to generate magnetic fields that interact with conductive coils in the track as the train moves it induces currents in these coils creating magnetic fields that lift the Train by repulsion a subtle but distinct difference and one that still comes with the very important safety concerns of Ems for propulsion both EDS and EMS trains use linear Motors unlike traditional Motors in a normal electric or diesel powerered locomotive which generate power on board and use a transmission to push that power into a set of wheels a linear motor is instead positioned outside of the locomotive along the track and the electromagnetic field it generates pushes the locomotive forward speed regulation is achieved by altering the electrical current of the linear motor draw more power and you'll go faster less and you'll go slower cut it all together and you'll come to a halt since mag trains don't actually touch their tracks guidance is also quite a bit of a big deal after all a maglev train clipping its rails and plowing several hundred passengers into the ground at high speed wouldn't exactly be conductive to the operation of a reliable and profitable timetable it is achieved typically through systems that integrate with the levitation mechanisms but in different ways depending on the type of magl in question in EMS configurations the electromagnets that levitate the train also provide lateral stability keeping the train centered over the track and by contrast EDS systems often utilize the inherent stability provided by its magnetic fields which naturally Center the train above the track as it moves so now the question is why bother with all of this I mean trains with wheels are pretty good well partly this is due to maintenance or rather the lack of Maintenance that maglev liines need compared to traditional lines I mean there's very little wear and tear on the track since nothing actually touches them and thus a fortune can be saved on highly qualified and very expensive Engineers such a consideration is drab however and a far more exciting thing is speed again since magb trains don't actually touch the track it means that a particular demon that has cursed Railway Engineers for over two centuries now can be banished down to the bits of hell and that is of course friction for the swiftly minded friction is the enemy always present touching your wheels slowing you down by eliminating it all together you eliminate one of the major caps to a locomotive's maximum speed do you ever find yourself lost in the Maze of website building Desperately Seeking a way out well fear not because this video is sponsored by 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for Japanese star conventional bullet trains which were tried and tested or did they go for this whizbang magav stuff intrigued by the latter prospects they commissioned the German company transrapid then Pioneers in the technology to build the mign in Shanghai one that ran from pong airport to the city center this was quite a sensible approach to be fair because even if they didn't pursue magb any further Shanghai still got a belting airport connection out of it construction began in March 2001 and after a lengthly period of testing it opened to the public in January 2004 the end result stretched for 19.5 miles 30.5 kilomet and Still Remains the fastest train in regular commercial service in the whole world topping out at 268 mph or 431 km/ hour in routine service with an overall top speed of 280 mph or 450 km per hour which it hit in pre-service testing its construction was a Monumental Financial undertaking costing approximately $39 9.75 million per kilometer totaling $1.2 billion for the entire line as a result of this cost and despite the impressive technological achievement that the line represents it has struggled to Achieve Financial viability and has more or less run at a loss for every single year of its operation as a result of this maglev was not selected for further developments when the time came and instead they went for conventional high-speed trains oh just a small little tangent here before we bring this chapter to a close we can per personally vouch for what an utterly insanee experience it is riding the Shanghai magf both the writer of this piece and me have both written it and it's ridiculous following the failure of the Shanghai maglev to be selected for wider adoption it was assumed that was it that Beijing had placed all of its chips on the red spot of conventional High-Speed Rail and was not going to be making a cheeky flatter on the black magv Spartans that the Shanghai magl was is going to be left doing its thing in isolation until it inevitably broke became too expensive to repair and was fed off to a Railway Museum somewhere to sit Gathering dust as a glorious Monument to what could have been had Beijing felt just a tad more risky back in the early ughs but then in 2016 everything changed as the China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation or crrc a state-owned rolling stock company suddenly announced that it begun work on a new magb train one that they hoped would reach a top speed of 3 73 m per hour 600 km per hour which would make it the single fastest thing on earth period at that point the Western World pretty much said in Union yeah sure you are and patronizingly ped the CRC on the heads completely blind the fact that China is a country that regularly announces Mega projects of all kinds and more often than not they actually finish them imagine their surprise then when not even 2 months later the CRC announced it was going to start constructing a 3.1 mile or 5 km stretch of test track in Ching da which would allow them to put the new train through its paces and run it up to its maximum speed with a view of having it completed by the back end of 2018 China was serious about large scale magv production from there things went quiet for a time as the crc's boffins retreated to their workshops and set about the long and arduous task of bringing a fully functional top-of-the-line inter city high-speed maglev train and a system of tracks above which it could float into reality slowly but surely a few years down the line more and more maglev lines got announced as crc's work only went from strength to strength it started off small at first with Beijing announcing in 2019 that it was going to build a 621 mile or thousand km network of nine different maglev lines the most notable aspects of which were a 102 mile 164 km stretch between Shanghai and hhho 68 M 110 km line linking Guang XO and Shenzhen and 188 mile or 302 km long changu to Chon Ching line from there in true Chinese Mega project form things got a bit bigger and by early 2021 lines linking arumi to Lango changu to dang Shanghai to hhho and Shanghai to shenzen were all announced as well but there's even more because then by the close of 2021 further lines from Beijing to Shanghai were announced as well as a cheeky little extra spur pop Hong Kong onto the ends of the Guang XO Shenzhen line and if you T this all up it is about 2,48 5 miles or 4,000 km of maglev lines announced as when all of this will be open that's a lot more difficult to say Beijing is perhaps quite sensibly given how subject to delays Mega projects tend to be reluctant to put a hard date on any of these lines opening dates but looking at what Chinese newspapers say expect to see the ribbons likely being cut around 2030 with maybe a few of the shorter ones opening a touch earlier when it comes to cost however we have absolutely no idea there's so little reliable reporting out there on this specific matter that it really is very difficult to say but just for the sake of having some number to work with if we note the fact that the Shanghai maglev cost 1.2 billion US for its 19.5 mile track which is worth today about $2 billion and that Japan is predicting to spend around 82 billion US on its 285 kilm choen Canen line between Tokyo and ngoya it isn't unreasonable to suspect that the cost of all of China's maglev lines May well creep up close to the trillion us USD Mark when all is said and done it sounds mad but when you consider that figure is around the yearly US military budget Mark that the Chinese economy isn't much smaller and that the cost is being split over many years it is certainly in the Realms of possibility at least and now that's all fun in games but what of the train that will Glide over all of those tracks that's the fast bit that's the bit we really all care about so what's going on with that well worry not because that question was answered in 2021 when bad boy the crrc 600 glided out of the factory in Ching da and was announced to the public it is a five car set able to be expanded up to 10 cars and is designed to operate at speeds of 373 mph or 600 km per hour hence its name it's unveiling followed extensive testing phases including a successful test run of a prototype on the 1.5 km guideway at tongi University in Shanghai back in 2019 it still hasn't finished testing and entered serial production because crrc really want to get it right which is probably sensible given what is at stake if such a fast floating train has a bit of a Whoops a Daisy the brakes alone which work through using a magnetic pole to apply magnetic force to the opposite direction of travel took over 19 months to develop an engineer it's also planned to be fully autonomous but not unmanned with its driver being referred to as an attendant in a crrc press release this is someone who can drive the train if they have to but in 99% of operations they'll just be keeping an eye on things and making sure the automatic systems are functioning correctly now now this is all Jolly exciting but it's only one part of the story because while all this big and fancy in City maglev stuff is capturing the front pages a much more humble story is inv holding on the back pages one in which China is slowly but surely rolling out slower paced maglev Tech on the inner city level and on quite an impressive scale it has to be said so now let's bring this chapter to a close and take a look at that in more detail the first watch line was the Chang sha maglev Express which runs for a length of 11.5 M or 18.5 km and connects Chang sha hanga International Airport with Changsha South Railway Station operation commenced on the 16th of May 2016 after construction began in May 2014 and trial run started in December 2015 it had an initial operating speed of 62 mph 100 km per hour which was later up to 87 mph 140 kmph following the introduction of a newer model of train in July 2021 as things stand the line has three stations but there are plans to extend the system by 2.8 Mi or 4.5 km to include two additional underground stations at terminals 2 and three it currently just connects to Terminal 1 as for how much it costs figures vary source to Source but the most commonly agreed upon amount is $749 million then there's the so-called Sky Train which opened in early 2022 built to serve chingu County in guangju Province this line took a rather different approach to its construction as compared to any of the others that that we've looked at as you've likely already deduced by the picture it levitates above a rail which itself sits above the Train giving the passengers unmarked panoramic views of the surrounding landscape and leaving them to feel as if they are flying as it Glides above the ground hence the name interestingly unlike traditional mag lips the sky Train employs permanent magnets on the tracks rather than electromagnets with the idea being to reduce the Lin electricity usage thereby making it both Greener and cheaper to operate it currently runs at a maximum operation speed of 80 km an hour 50 mph along a half mile 800 M long stretch of track and has a capacity for 88 passengers in many ways is the direct descendants of the Shanghai maglev just like that was a test for maglev trains the sky Train is a test for a vertical suspension system and everything seems to have gone well because barely a year after its opening an extension was announced that would see it extended by 4.7 miles or 7.5 km and opened up to a top speed of 75 mph or 120 km per hour that's how much it costs again we don't know no hard figures have ever been released but Chingo County officials have said that it set them back roughly 10% of the cost of a Subway per kilometer and since we know that a Chinese Subway typically costs around $138 million per kilometer we have a reasonable guess that the 800 meter initial section of track cost them around $1 11 million then in July 2022 fangwan in Hunan Province cut the ribbon on the fen Quan maget a 5.7 M 9.1 km line that connects the cities high-speed railway station with the historic Old City stops off at several tourist hotspots along the way and runs at a maximum speed of 62 mph 100 km an hour constructed by the China Railway Engineering Corporation the line was completed in just under 2 years for a reported cost of $329 million it is unapologetically a tourist line and as such had enormous amounts of money put into building its stations in a way that reflected local Architectural Traditions with an overall theme of mythical Fang Wang bird for which the city is named daily rid currently sits at around 30,000 people a little over the lines Break Even points and it seems to be suffering from no mechanical or reliability problems finally there's also the maglev tourist line currently under construction in chingan guu Province just like the previous lines we looked at it is to be an internationally super high-tech top-of-the-line system designed to bring in bucket loads of tourists cheaply and efficiently and also to wow them with some whiz bang Tech while doing so it is being built in three stages the first of which runs for 5 miles or 8.1 kilom connects to Ying Jang station on the guangju Ching Guang in city with Ching Guang chimelong theme park it's also due to open for full public operation later this year this expected to carry 315 passengers per train at speeds up to 75 mph 120 km an hour the second stage will see it extended to 23.6 mil or 38 km in length and connects the South China Tiger breeding center and Ma Lake to the line and the third stage is yet to be announced ultimately all of this is just a tip of the iceberg a small F to give you an idea of just how extensive provisional maglev construction has been in China there are even more still but if we were to go into all of them then we be here all day so as long as you've got an awareness that there are loads of them being built well that's good enough for now and with that a story's done at least for now is well this is an ongoing story will this all come together as planned in a decade's time will China be blowing us out of the water with a network of sci-fi trains While most of us back in the west struggle with just conventional High speed trains frankly we think it's a safe bet that they will not only does China have a near unbeaten record on Mega projects generally but their magl projects specifically actually look quite reasonable when you consider that China already has the tech has some of the best Minds on the globe working to refine it further and is actually slapping their wallet down when it comes to pay for it oh and one last thing China is also in the very early stages of developing a hyperloop system a transportation system that uses capsules supported by an air bearing surface within low pressure tube to achieve simply blistering speeds and the Prototype has already beaten 387 mph or 623 km/ hour in testing and it's aiming for 621 mph that's 1,000 km an hour when it goes live so maybe we'll meet back here in 10 years talking about China's soon to be obsolete maglev system see you [Music] then

Channel: Megaprojects

Views: 205,022

Keywords: chinese maglev train 600 kmh, chinese maglev train test, chinese maglev record speed, chinese maglev, maglev train, maglev world record, maglev, hyperloop, fastest train, hyperloop one, hyperloop train

Id: RlbNzjVFDHo

Length: 19min 32sec (1172 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 08 2024