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China’s Experimental ‘Flying Train’ Edges Closer to Reality—Can Hyperloop Succeed Where Others Failed?
The Debrief ^ | February 19, 2025 | Ryan Whalen

Posted on 02/20/2025 7:13:10 AM PST by Red Badger

China’s experimental hyperloop T-Flight maglev train is advancing toward making record-breaking transportation speeds a reality, which could represent another milestone in the country’s expanding global influence in science and engineering.

Following successful tests in 2023, the state-owned China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) is pushing forward with developing the high-speed magnetic levitation transportation system amid similar Chinese advancements in AI, semiconductors, space exploration, and other areas of science and technology.

But can the world’s third-largest country make traversing its enormous land mass a breeze?

T-Flight Hyperloop Train

At a planned 600 mph operating speed, T-flight would exceed even the cruising pace of commercial passenger aircraft. At this speed, the regular six-hour trip between Beijing and Shanghai would be reduced to an hour and a half. With China’s megacities potentially separated by up to a thousand miles or more, cutting commutes down to a fraction of their current times would greatly benefit the nation as it pushes to meet continual economic growth targets.

Hyperloop trains could make long-distance travel significantly more efficient than air travel, which requires lengthy security screenings and airport transfers. The project takes inspiration from the hyperloop concept proposed by Elon Musk in a 2013 white paper, integrating magnetic levitation (maglev) technology with low-vacuum tubes to reduce friction and air resistance.

While Western companies such as Hyperloop One ceased operations in 2023, China is pushing ahead with large-scale testing of its high-speed maglev system.

Testing China’s Latest Maglev Train In February 2024, China conducted initial tests on a 1.24-mile track, with T-Flight reaching 387 mph, surpassing Japan’s L0 Series train record of 374 mph. In October 2024, the train was successfully tested in low-vacuum conditions for the first time, demonstrating the viability of a full-scale hyperloop system.

According to China’s state-run CGTN, the test results were “consistent with the preset values,” though specific details remain undisclosed. Experts speculate that only a limited vacuum pressure was used in the test.

Testing continues, with plans for a full-speed test on a 37-mile track. If successful, the train is expected to reach 621 mph during this next test, walking back an earlier estimate of over 1,000 mph. Beyond that, the goal is to reach a truly extraordinary third phase of the project, theoretically capable of breaking the sound barrier at 2,485 miles per hour. However, given the revised expectations for phase two, whether this ambitious goal will be adjusted remains unclear.

Making The Hyperloop ‘Flying Train’ a Reality

A maglev train uses magnetic force to lift itself above the tracks, creating a frictionless, non-contact vehicle that is often compared to a “flying train.” However, the technology does not achieve actual flight.

Instead, two magnetic technologies operate in a maglev to hoist it into the air. An electromagnetic suspension (EMS) uses electromagnets on the train, which are attracted to the ferromagnetic rails to lift the train slightly above the track. Electrodynamic suspension (EDS) lights the train even higher when superconducting magnets on the train interact with coils in the track to create a repulsive force.

With the train held slightly aloft, alternating magnetic fields generated by coils push the train forward. Maglev technology has provided smooth and fast trips across Asia for years, including Shanghai’s 268 mph train. A low-vacuum tube, removing even air resistance for incredibly fast speeds, sets the hyperloop apart from these earlier frictionless rides. Under normal conditions, above-ground trains can face nearly 15 psi of resistance, while low-vacuum tubes can get that resistance down to as low as one psi.

Hyperloop Maglev Train Development Globally

Despite Hyperloop One shutting its doors, several other long-term projects are still being worked on worldwide. Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, another US firm, is pursuing a project connecting the Great Lakes region with foreign projects, including a route between Abu Dhabi and Al Ain. Canadian firm Transpod, long at work on a Canadian hyperloop system, unveiled plans for a rail system in Texas last year and demonstrated advancements on its 1/3-scale model train.

Skepticism remains about the economic viability and safety of hyperloop systems. Issues such as accidental depressurization at supersonic speeds and the safety of acceleration and deceleration continue to be question marks for the technology. Despite various models and short test runs, only one Hyperloop One test in 2020 carried passengers, and even then, it was only at 100 mph.

Whether China can overcome the remaining technical and economic hurdles will determine whether hyperloop technology becomes a global transportation revolution or remains merely one of the country’s ambitious, albeit promising, experiments.

Ryan Whalen covers science and technology for The Debrief. He holds an MA in History and a Master of Library and Information Science with a certificate in Data Science. He can be contacted at ryan@thedebrief.org, and follow him on Twitter @mdntwvlf.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; History; Military/Veterans; Travel
KEYWORDS: ccp; china; hyperloop
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1 posted on 02/20/2025 7:13:10 AM PST by Red Badger
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To: MtnClimber; SunkenCiv; rktman; mowowie; SuperLuminal; Cottonbay

The Koreans are working on one as well........The Seoul Train...........


2 posted on 02/20/2025 7:14:04 AM PST by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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To: Red Badger

Japan already has this with test runs and plans to implement.


3 posted on 02/20/2025 7:18:48 AM PST by Williams (Thank God for the election of President Trump!)
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To: Red Badger
breaking the sound barrier at 2,485 miles per hour

uh it's a bit lower than that....depending on various factors it's around 700 or so MPH

4 posted on 02/20/2025 7:18:52 AM PST by xp38
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To: Red Badger

That’s going to be a very impressive crash


5 posted on 02/20/2025 7:20:19 AM PST by The Louiswu (You get what you vote for, good and hard.)
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To: Red Badger

But we’re beating the pants off of them in the all-important category of diversity.


6 posted on 02/20/2025 7:23:33 AM PST by ComputerGuy ( )
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To: ComputerGuy

China’s never been too keen on ‘diversity’...................


7 posted on 02/20/2025 7:30:14 AM PST by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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To: Red Badger

Ha. Very good.


8 posted on 02/20/2025 7:33:05 AM PST by subterfuge (I'm a pure-blood!)
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To: Red Badger

They won’t be able to build that in the US until all the graft and corruption is taken care of. That’s where most of the money seems to go when building any type of large public project.


9 posted on 02/20/2025 7:33:52 AM PST by DouglasKC
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To: Red Badger

The Koreans are working on one as well........The Seoul Train...........


Does it go to Busan?


10 posted on 02/20/2025 7:34:37 AM PST by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: Red Badger

11 posted on 02/20/2025 7:36:51 AM PST by Magnum44 (...against all enemies, foreign and domestic... )
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To: Red Badger; All

A good project for the CCP to waste its limited resources on.

As I recall the Chinese fast trains are heavily subsidized, always operating at significant losses.


12 posted on 02/20/2025 7:39:30 AM PST by marktwain
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To: Red Badger

“According to China’s state-run CGTN, the test results were “consistent with the preset values,” though specific details remain undisclosed.”

I suspect that if they were having all that much success testing they’d be bragging about it more than they are.


13 posted on 02/20/2025 7:39:32 AM PST by V_TWIN (America...so great even the people that hate it refuse to leave!ly)
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To: xp38

“uh it’s a bit lower than that....depending on various factors it’s around 700 or so MPH”

Speed of sound in a 1 psi vacuum is higher I think.


14 posted on 02/20/2025 7:40:59 AM PST by JeanLM
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To: Red Badger

Gee, will China claim their great success is due to their DEI policies?


15 posted on 02/20/2025 7:46:16 AM PST by Bon of Babble (You Say You Want a Revolution?)
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To: Red Badger

In order for this to work, you have to dictate where people have to live. It is very expensive for this track to have to be moved to account for changing populations.


16 posted on 02/20/2025 8:04:04 AM PST by Jonty30 (Groundhogs don't falsify their predictions for grant money, whereas climate scientists do. )
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To: Red Badger

Yes, and China will spend billions to prove it really works/exists.


17 posted on 02/20/2025 8:04:17 AM PST by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now its your turn)
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To: Jonty30

China has no problems with that.................


18 posted on 02/20/2025 8:06:46 AM PST by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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To: Red Badger

Wouldn’t teleportation be quicker?


19 posted on 02/20/2025 8:08:41 AM PST by LS ("Castles made of sand, fall in the sea . . . eventually." Jimi Hendrix)
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To: Red Badger

Good one. I’m stealing-—with attribution.


20 posted on 02/20/2025 8:09:07 AM PST by LS ("Castles made of sand, fall in the sea . . . eventually." Jimi Hendrix)
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