China to begin constructing a Maglev railway

CRRC Corporation, a train manufacturer in China has announced that it will soon begin the construction of a new maglev railway, which will have the capacity for trains to travel up to 600km/h. The first prototype is expected to be delivered in 2020, and the test track will be built in Shandong province.
The train is based on electromagnetic induction and they are suspended above the track. Thanks to the consequent reduced friction, the travelling speed of the Maglev trains is twice that of current ‘high-speed’ trains and not too far from that of airplanes.
Maglev transport systems are not a new concept, back in the 1970’s Germany, Japan and the United States us to develop Maglev transport systems to improve the efficiency of public transport. With regards to China’s history of Maglev transport, back in 1990, China’s Railway Bureau proposed the construction of a Beijing – Shanghai high-speed railway service and debate was fierce over whether it should be maglev or wheel-rail technology, ultimately the latter was decided upon. China’s wheel-rail technology has since then been the only method adopted.

The biggest concern to the public is the radiation that can be found from maglev rails, however, Xie Hailin,manager of the maglev branch of CRRC Corporation, explained that electro-magnetic radiation inside maglev train carriages is subject to the same limits as radiation in underground carriages. At the same time, compared with underground railways, mid-speed maglev trains consume less energy, cost less, and can be constructed more quickly.