Posted on 09/30/2019 9:03:44 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
A Chinese aerospace firm’s claim that it is developing a “flying train” capable of travelling at up to 4,000 km/h has met with scepticism and wry humour from transport experts and members of the public in China.
China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation announced plans on Wednesday to research a futuristic train network that would first run at 1,000km per hour between cities, eventually developing to reach top speeds of 4,000km/h.
That target is well over 10 times faster than the maximum speed of existing bullet trains.
The idea was unveiled by Liu Shiquan, the corporation’s deputy chief executive, at an industry conference in Wuhan in Hubei province on Wednesday, the official Science and Technology Daily reported.
The company did not give a timeline for its ambitious plans.
Liu said the company wanted to work with over 20 Chinese and international scientific research groups on the project, according to the report.
The target speed of 4,000km/h also by far exceeds the maximum speeds of commercial passenger jets such as the Airbus A380 at 1,020km/h and the Boeing 787 at 954km/h.
“Flying trains” would theoretically allow passengers to travel from Beijing to Wuhan in central China in half an hour, the Chinese aerospace corporation claims.
The project aims to combine supersonic aircraft and high-speed rail technologies such as magnetic levitation, or Maglev, and vacuum tube trains, or vactrains, on which Tesla founder Elon Musk based his concept of Hyperloop trains back in 2013. Hyperloop technology trains may be able to travel up to 1,200km/h.
Experts, however, have raised strong doubts about the Chinese scheme.
Zhao Jian, a professsor at Beijing Transport University, said the human body could only physiologically withstand acceleration to speeds of 4,000km/h for a very short amount of time.
(Excerpt) Read more at scmp.com ...
As a ferroequinologist, I would like to see it. If they could put one between Tampa and Buffalo, I might take it...
Elon Musk wants to make an ultra-high speed train that runs in a tunnel that is under vacuum. No air, no air resistance.
“the human body could only physiologically withstand acceleration to speeds of 4,000km/h for a very short amount of time”
That’s why we need to inject you with meds while you are strapped to a crash couch like in “The Expanse”.
First issue I can think of is how to develop those crossing gates and lights to be fast enough to go up and down properly... Unless the plan is to leave them down permanently...
(And, that doesn't even address the problems of supersonic motion through ground-level air densities.)
Fool's errand...
The train would be enclosed in a tube, which means dedicated track and no crossings or other intersections.
For the Chinese, the project engages with their Communist-inspired dedication to large scale engineering. It may also appeal to a desire for futuristic Chinese trains as an alternative and competitor for Boeing and Airbus. China has found that progress in civilian aircraft design and manufacture is easier to imagine than attain. Given the shoddiness of much of what China builds, Chinese trains are likely to be safer than Chinese civilian aircraft for years to come.
Sorry... Forgot to add the appropriate “/s”...{:-)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.