The new trains would be the quickest in the world
The state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) is developing the innovative trains, which are 10 times faster than the world’s fastest bullet trains.Scientists have said the new trains will rival the new Hyperloop system being built by the billionaire Elon Musk.
Deputy general manager at CASC, Liu Shiquan, said their scientists would be developing the very fast trains of the future that are able to “fly on the ground”.
These ‘flying trains’ would allow passengers to travel from Beijing to Wuhan in central China in half an hour, according to the Chinese aerospace company.The journey currently takes five hours by train and is around 720 miles in distance.
China’s state-owned website The Paper said: “The corporation has built rich experience and accumulated technological know-how through major projects, and it has the capabilities in simulation, modelling and experimentation for large-scale projects, as well as the world-class design capability for supersonic aircraft, all of which lay the important ground for the super-fast train project.”China already has the most high speed trains in the world and CASC have said they will work with other researchers to create the new high speed trains.
Mao Kai, chief designer of the system, said in an interview with a state newspaper the train will ensure safety by allowing for acceleration that is slower than that of civil aircraft.
The supersonic train could be rolled out in 60 countries across the globe
If the company does succeed in developing these ‘flying trains’, they would be travelling at speeds that are four times faster than commercial flights and more than three times the speed of sound.The contractors have said they would transport the supersonic train to more than 60 countries across Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa.
The top speed recorded by the Concorde jet before it was deemed too unsafe in 2003 was 1,354 mph.
However, critics of the project have said the human body would not be able to withstand such an intense acceleration for very long.
Professor at Beijing Transport University, Zhao Jian, said: “In that case, are the passengers going to be astronauts only?“There would be high costs involved in improving the speed in stages, I wonder if it would be economically viable to do so.”
Elon Musk’s Hyperloop could take passengers from London to Edinburgh in half an hour, a journey that currently takes more than four hours.
The developer has described the transport system as a “cross between a Concorde, a railgun and an air hockey table”.
The Hyperloop would allow passengers to travel in pods inside hide tubes.
Removing all of the friction from the technology would mean that the Hyperloop could carry passengers at around 760 mph.
