In February of this year, we reported on the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation and its first-phase tests of its low-vacuum tube hyperloop-style maglev ultra-high-speed (UHS) train. In the initial 1.24-mile (2 km) tests, the T-Flight reached a top speed of 387 mph (623 km/h).
In its last test in October 2023, it flew on a very short track under non-vacuum conditions. This week, CASIC, known as China's largest strategic and tactical missile manufacturer, successfully tested UHS maglev under low vacuum conditions on the same track and achieved successful results. CGTN“The test showed that the vehicle's maximum speed and suspension height were in line with the previously determined values.”
The test showed that all systems were nominal and that the train's speed and height above the track were consistent with the test's predetermined values; these values were not disclosed. CASIC was also able to verify that all large-scale vacuum-related systems were operational during the test. All systems, control!
China Media Group
The idea of high-speed vacuum tube transportation has largely died out in the West, but it is still an intoxicating idea. With little or no atmosphere, aerodynamics and wind resistance are almost completely non-factors. Not to mention friction, drag and heat, the train effectively floats in the air, touching nothing, powered and held aloft by magnetic repulsion.
Frictionless maglev trains have, of course, been around for a while now. Japan’s L0 Series Maglev, built in 2012, holds the record for the world’s fastest train at 374 mph (602 km/h). And China has the second-fastest train, built a few years ago in 2021, which is currently only 1 mph (1.6 km/h) slower than the Japanese train.
The T-Flight has the advantage of being in a low-vacuum tube, where external atmospheric forces will have little effect on the train's speed or stability, depending on the amount of vacuum. Normal atmospheric pressure at sea level is 14.7 psi (1 bar), while “low vacuum” can range from 1 psi (0.07 bar) to around 13.7 psi (0.9 bar). We don't have the exact figures used in their tests, but an educated guess would say it's closer to the lower end of the scale.
The goal of the T-Flight maglev train system is to connect megacities with an ultra-high-speed railway that can transport passengers from cities like Beijing to Shanghai in as little as an hour and a half. For reference, that’s a 680-mile (1,100 km) journey that takes 4.5–6.5 hours on current high-speed railways. Even flights take a little over two hours, plus commutes to work at both ends. The fastest conventional trains take 12 or more hours.
CASIC plans to operate T-Flight at a top speed of 621 mph (1,000 km/h) in the second phase of testing, which would require an extended runway of approximately 37 miles (60 km). That’s about 100 mph (161 km/h) faster than the typical cruising speed of the Airbus A320, the world’s most popular passenger aircraft.
There may also be a third stage targeting 2,485 mph (4,000 km/h), according to a CASIC video from six years ago. That's not a typo. Six years ago, the group also said the second stage would target 1,242 mph (2,000 km/h), which appears to have been pushed back.
Yet the T-Flight went faster than the world's fastest maglev train on a ridiculously short track, without help of a low vacuum environment. In a low vacuum environment, if it has some space to stretch its legs, it will undoubtedly go much faster.
T-Flight – China's supersonic train to reach 4000 km/h
China certainly has the population to make advanced public transportation projects economically viable—but it remains to be seen whether the country has the will and power to complete the insane expense of a super-long-range vacuum tube. Every capitalist attempt so far has failed.
And the safety questions remain—what happens if the tube depressurizes, throwing unexpected variables into the aerodynamic equations? Can you really fire passengers through a low-vacuum tube at those speeds and expect them all to stay solid? Is this all just a front for a giant railgun project that will rain down supersonic projectiles the size of railcars on hapless enemies, as my colleague thinks, or will China go ahead and deliver the hyperloop Elon promised?
We don't know how much CASIC has spent on the development of the T-Flight so far, or how much it will cost to complete, but with China having a population of around one and a half billion people potentially ready to fly, and a Chinese state-owned company with an annual revenue of over US$30 billion being responsible for making it happen, it's likely that this is a rushed project to get it done.
Source: Xinhua