China’s first moderate-speed maglev goes on trial run

China’s first moderate-speed maglev goes on trial run.

China's first domestically developed and produced magnetic levitation line held a formal trial run in Changsha, China’s south central Hunan Province yesterday.

The maglev shuttles connect Changsha’s south railway station and the Huanghua International Airport. The journey takes passengers approximately ten minutes to travel 18.5-kilometer. The project began construction in May 2014 with a complete elevated line.

It’s the longest moderate-speed maglev line in the world so far, and makes China the fourth country to have mastered the skill.

"Zhuifengzhe", which has the linguistic meaning of “wind chaser”, is the maglev train’s name. It’s manufactured by a subsidiary of CRRC in Hunan’s Zhuzhou. CRRC is one of the world’s largest railway transportation suppliers in China.

The 48-meter-long train has three carriages and carries 363 people in total. It was manufactured in 2012 and has a maximum speed of 100-kilometers per hour.

According to Xinhua, the maglev line costed around 195 million yuan (about 30.1 million U.S. dollars) per kilometer. The successful trial run of the train will be followed up with some tests of security, fault simulation and emergency drilling.

(source: CCTV News)