China makes news again with its super-fast train project. Chinese engineers have announced that their project of bullet trains will reach 500 km/h. This new Chinese high-tech train is expected to be operational by 2018.
When the Chinese bullet train will be operational it will be nearly as fast as the Maglev train in Japan. Earlier this year the Maglev hit 590 km/h, a record-breaking speed. These trains in Asia are capable of more than three times the speed of the rail network in Australia and twice the top speed of most fast trains in the United States. And what is most impressive, this technology of Asian bullet trains is all their own, an impressive achievement for this region in the world.
China's high-speed railways developed this project based on their own engineered magnet synchronous traction system. They have full intellectual property rights over this technology developed at the Zhuzhou Institute in the Hunan province in collaboration with CRRC Corp, China's largest train maker. The bullet train that will revolutionize Chinese transport infrastructure has been in development for almost 12 years.
A permanent magnet synchronous traction system is based on permanent magnets rather than a temporary magnetic field produced by the windings of the alternative current asynchronous engine rotors. The bullet train is propelled forward at incredible speeds by this new 690-kilowatt traction system. The Chinese technology has the advantage of being lighter and featuring significantly fewer parts. This makes it also more efficient, allowing China's bullet trains to go 50 percent faster than the previous versions. The only downside of the Chinese traction system is the fact that the train is subject to the effects of friction, since it remains in contact with the track, unlike the Maglev system.
A lower power 190-kilowatt version of the new Chinese railroad traction system has been in testing in the Liaoning province, on Subway Line 2 in Shenyan, since the year 2011. For 70,000 kilometers of train travel, until today the equipment had operated without any malfunctions. In October 2014, trials started with the 690-kilowatt system in selected bulled trains. This technology will be capable of propelling the Chinese trains at speeds of 500 km/h. The system will soon enter mass production if all goes to schedule. By 2018 the new bullet trains will be rolled out across the country.
Most of the other bullet train systems operational in the world today are powered by asynchronous motors working on the principle of alternating current. This traction system dates back to the '70s. The Chinese new development in bullet train technology will be more efficient, will educe electrical consumption and minimise electrical configuration, since it features fewer parts than currently in use in the asynchronous systems.
