The maglev is the world’s fastest train and can get you to your destination at the speed of flight without leaving the ground.
China’s new high-speed maglev in Shanghai just set a new record as the world’s fastest – and this video shows the speeds it reaches.
CHECK OUT A POV OF RIDING ON THE WORLD’S FASTEST TRAIN BELOW:
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The train connects Longyang Road station within the bustling metropolis to Pudong Airport, and the 19-mile journey takes approximately seven minutes.
And while form is as impressive as function when it comes to rail travel – that’s pretty impressive.
This video from Wayne Yeung shows a POV of a Shanghai maglev passenger.
Around the halfway mark you’ll see two maglev trains passing each other at 350km/h (217mph) – blink and you’ll miss it.
A recent test run saw the train reaching speeds of 453 km/h (281mph) making it the fastest train in the world.
In fact, once the maglev project is complete and fully up to speed its engineers hope it will reach 1000km/h (621mph) .
To put that into context: that’s much faster than a commercial flight which averages 877km/h (545mph).
It achieves those breakneck speeds using “magnetic leviation”.
This method counteracts the effects of gravity to allow the train to glide on air and proper forward.
This allows the train to be quieter, a smoother ride and the world’s fastest train.
It achieves this seemingly impossible feat using superconducting magnets in a low-vacuum pipeline.
The magnets are repelled by the metal pipeline to create a cushion of air between them.
Cooling these powerful magnets strengthens the magnetic field even further.
While the maglev in Shanghai is up and running, China plans to expand the technology across the country.
It’s part of the country’s fourteenth five-year plan (2021 and 2025) known as the China Railway 450 Technology Innovation Project (CR450).
Those in charge hope CR450 will ease travel and reduce journey time between rural areas and big cities.
It should also reduce air pollution emissions from transport for the vast population.
Transport emissions in China are currently on the up.
The number of passenger cars multiplied 12 times between 2005 and 2020 (from 19 million to 239 million).
Second only to the US, the country was responsible for 11% of the world’s transport-related air pollution emissions in 2018.
China plans to have its carbon emissions peak by 2030 and become carbon-neutral by 2060.
Maglev trains do not generate any direct emissions.
And, unlike traditional train tracks, animals can cross safely beneath maglev trains.
China’s super-fast maglev train could be operational within three to 10 years.
