Construction on cutting-edge maglev test line completed in Datong

The construction site of the first phase of the test line project on a cutting-edge transportation system involving a high-speed maglev running in a low vacuum pipeline in Yanggao county. [Photo/Shanxi Daily] 

The first phase of a test line project for a cutting-edge transportation system involving a high-speed maglev running in a low vacuum pipeline was recently completed in Yanggao county, Datong city, North China's Shanxi province. 

The high-speed maglev uses the latest superconducting magnetic levitation technology to disengage from the ground to eliminate frictional resistance, while employing internal pipelines close to a vacuum to greatly reduce air resistance, so as to achieve "close-to-ground flight" of 1,000 kilometers per hour.

The test platform for the project of a cutting-edge transportation system involving a high-speed maglev running in a low vacuum pipeline. [Photo/Shanxi Daily] 

It offers faster speeds, greater convenience, enhanced comfort and safety, and greater controllability. 

The test line project in Datong, with a total length of 2 km, is the first of its kind based on independent intellectual property in China. 

"To ensure the success of the project, we divided the construction into two stages. The first stage mainly built an experimental platform as a template for the subsequent formal construction and accumulated experience," said Yang Xufeng, one of the technical leaders of the project.

The construction site of the first phase of the test line project. [Photo/Shanxi Daily] 

The project involves a large number of key technologies that have been pioneered nationally and also internationally, including large high-dynamic superconducting magnets, large low vacuum tube beams, and low vacuum high-voltage insulation modules. 

More than 1,000 enterprises are involved in the research and construction of the test line, which will keep extending the industrial chain both upstream and downstream.