Live data from Hacker News

China unveils 600 kph maglev train prototype

globaltimes.cn

51–60 of 192 posts

Re: China unveils 600 kph maglev train prototype

#51
The article mentions "designed top speed of 600 km per hour". But then a bit further it mentions "Now the prototype has achieved static levitation and is in good condition" (emphasis mine). That leaves me wondering what was the actual speed reached during testing and what will be the actual operational speed.

Don't get me wrong, I still find this project impressive.

But there's a fair amount of boasting going on as well. For example the French TGV boasted a measured record of 574 km/h. But that's on a (modified) test unit and a test track. Operational speed is about 320 km/h on most tracks.

Perhaps they simply haven't gotten to the testing/benchmark phase yet.

Re: China unveils 600 kph maglev train prototype

#52
post #2

I really wish we had high speed rail in Australia. I'd pick a 600km/h train over a plane any day.

I always wondered about this as well. It seems like a nobrainer especially in SE Australia. Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, up to Brisbaine. Although 600km/h would probably be unnecessarily fast and not economically viable on these routes, a normal 300+ HSR would surely provide huge benefits.

Sydney-Melbourne is indeed no brainer. It is one of the busiest air route in the world.

Re: China unveils 600 kph maglev train prototype

#53
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find it particularily morbid that both countries that seemingly fight over the tech leadership on thsi planet both have the death penalty. Makes it hard to make out the moral winner watching from afar :-( Also, given all the bad spying rep the US has, I am really not sure what is better: a US phone or a China phone... Both seem a very good way to get fucked over.

Yeah definitively, the US is no angel that's for sure but its still aligned with democratic values (at least for now).

Democratic values? As in, the one who receives the most votes will win the election?

Re: China unveils 600 kph maglev train prototype

#55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t understand the apologists either. This is not a lovely democratic state it’s probably histories most successful authoritarian gangster state in modern history. A future with an ascendant China wielding global military power is not going to be nice for anyone.

And to fix that let's do what ? a) spy on our citizens, on our alleys, use demagogy, propaganda and anti-science b) do what we want others to do and we say we do c) find a reason and just attack them(or similar shit), put our preferred government

Uphold our liberal western values and insist on the rule by law and compliance with treaties, leveraging all the soft power available to ensure it.

In China, there is no freedom of speech or expression (only what's tolerated by the state). Laws only exist for convenience and are ignored when the state finds it inconvenient or if they decide to punish and individual or group of indidviduals.

History should have thought us a lesson that appeasement does not work with authoritarian regimes as it will be interpreted as a sign of weakness.

Re: China unveils 600 kph maglev train prototype

#56
post #42
post #6

In three years they developed the technology needed, more likely just ripped off the tech from Siemens on the Shanghai line.

The maglev they built 17 years ago for a billion dollars? China has been using maglevs for a long time. The low-medium maglevs seem quite useful too: https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/china-driverless-maglev-t... Someday they’ll probably replace their 19,000 miles (soon 25,000) of high-speed rail with maglevs. In the United States, people couldn’t be convinced to build high-speed rail and now the land is expensive.

> Someday they’ll probably replace their 19,000 miles (soon 25,000) of high-speed rail with maglevs.

Not necessarily and definitely not soon. Maglev isn't strictly better (unless it's also suitable for cargo trains or China doesn't use their high-speed rail for cargo at all -- not even at night). Replacing high-speed rail by maglev means that you're basically replacing high-speed rail with somewhat higher-speed rail at the cost of (almost[1]) completely new infrastructure. And during the transition, you basically have two independent railway networks. It's like having two railway gauges in a country, but even worse. Every piece of rolling stock can only run on one network. That's inflexible, increasing costs and/or reducing reliability. It also necessitates additional transfers.

[1] You can reuse station and other buildings, maybe platforms too. I can't think of anything else.

Re: China unveils 600 kph maglev train prototype

#57
post #51

The article mentions "designed top speed of 600 km per hour". But then a bit further it mentions "Now the prototype has achieved static levitation and is in good condition" (emphasis mine). That leaves me wondering what was the actual speed reached during testing and what will be the actual operational speed. Don't get me wrong, I still find this project impressive. But there's a fair amount of boasting going on as w…

The Beijing–Shanghai HSR train averages 300 km/h over an almost 5-hour ride, two years ago they upgraded it to peak at 350 km/h.

Re: China unveils 600 kph maglev train prototype

#58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your sentiment is popular this days with the big propaganda we see but is there any hint that what you say is true, maybe they stole it from other company or maybe in a country with such a large population you will have a large number of smart people.

There are lawsuits involving the issue, as another comment reports. Jumping to ''big propaganda'' is unwarranted.

The train the OP mentions has a maximum speed of 420 kmh, I'd say the Chinese did a hell of a job to build this train which supposedely can reach 600 kmh, there's no train in Europe that can reach that, not even the French TGV. As someone else mentioned bellow only the Japanese are close to building a similar train. Which is to say that this is a hell of an achievement by the Chinese.

Re: China unveils 600 kph maglev train prototype

#59
post #51

The article mentions "designed top speed of 600 km per hour". But then a bit further it mentions "Now the prototype has achieved static levitation and is in good condition" (emphasis mine). That leaves me wondering what was the actual speed reached during testing and what will be the actual operational speed. Don't get me wrong, I still find this project impressive. But there's a fair amount of boasting going on as w…

The Beijing–Shanghai HSR train averages 300 km/h over an almost 5-hour ride, two years ago they upgraded it to peak at 350 km/h.

The Beijing-Shanghai line was designed to operate at 350km/h with the plan to upgrade to 380km/h, it was downgraded to 300km/h after the 2011 Wenzhou accident in which 40 people killed.
Post reply on HN