China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC) is planning to build the world's fastest train. With speeds reaching 373 miles per hour, or 600 kmh, it will attempt to break the previous record held by the Shanghai Maglev at 430 kmh.
The company is currently trying to develop a small magnetic levitation prototype that can travel at 200 kilometers per hour on a three-mile test track. If it succeeds, the plan is to utilize China's 12,000-plus miles of rail track with high-speed transportation technology that can be deployed across the country.
Magnetic levitation enables such high speeds by reducing the friction of traditional rail-based trains. Instead of metal rails, maglev (magnetic levitation) trains glide on a cushion of air created by reversing the polarity of the magnet.
Of course, the technology is not new. In addition to the Shanghai Maglev, which is already operating in China, Japan completed its own maglev tests last year and achieved speeds of up to 590 kilometers per hour.
The US Air Force continues to hold the maglev speed record at 633 mph or 1018 kilometers per hour with a rocket-powered sled that traveled the distance of seven football fields in two seconds.
CRRC, for its part, is not just building high-speed trains in China. It has ongoing projects in the United Kingdom, Mexico, Thailand and many other countries, in addition to the United States.
