Train Maker Renews Plans to Build 600-kph Maglev Train

(Beijing) — China's top train maker is making a fresh attempt to build a magnetic levitation train that can reach speeds of up to 600 kph — or nearly two-thirds the cruising speed of some commercial passenger planes — six years after a previous pilot program was shelved.

China Railway Rolling Stock Corp. Ltd. (CRRC) said that subsidiary CSR Qingdao Sifang Co. Ltd. will build the trains and a test track that is at least 5 km long, the official China Central Television reported on Sunday.

Last year, a Japanese maglev train set a world record of 603 kph on an experimental track.

CRRC's announcement comes at a time when China's attempts to export its homegrown high-speed rail technology have picked up steam, with projects underway in Indonesia and Russia.

Unlike traditional trains, maglev trains use magnets to lift the railroad cars above the tracks and move the train forward. CRRC did not reveal a timetable for its latest project.

In 2010, the now-defunct Ministry of Railways and China South Locomotive & Rolling Stock Corp. Ltd., which later merged with a rival to form CRRC, tested a maglev train that could reach 600 kph, but the project was suspended due to safety concerns, according to official sources. A CRRC insider said that this time, the train maker will put "safety first," but did not elaborate on how the technology had evolved since the 2010 model.

CRRC said it was also building cross-border bullet trains that can reach speeds of up to 400 kph, CCTV reported. High-speed trains within China are allowed to run at a maximum speed of about 300 kph after the government lowered speeds limits following a fatal accident in 2011. A string of blunders, including serious design flaws in signaling equipment, caused a bullet train to derail, killing 40 passengers in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province. Speed was not a factor in the accident.

The CRRC did not reveal the routes on which its new cross-border bullet trains will be deployed. The country has several cargo train lines connecting several of its manufacturing hubs to European cities, including the Spanish capital of Madrid, and Hamburg, Germany.

China plans to spend 3.8 trillion yuan ($561.7 billion) on railroad infrastructure during the 2016-20 period as part of its "Made in China 2025" initiative, an official document viewed by Caixin shows.

The country's first locally built maglev train started running in Mayin Changsha, Hunan province. The train, which cost 4.3 billion yuan, can reach a maximum speed of 100 kph.

Contact reporter Chen Na (nachen@caixin.com); editor Poornima Weerasekara (poornima@caixin.com)