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China Testing 500 km/h High-Speed Train

December 26, 2011 By Zachary Shahan 5 Comments

It’s no secret that China is light years ahead of the U.S. on the development and use of high-speed trains. The latest news out of China is that it launched a super-fast high-speed rail (HSR) test train over the weekend. State-run media announced today that the train can travel up to 500 kilometers per hour (~310.7 miles per hour).

The train, designed to look like an ancient Chinese sword, was made by a subsidiary of CSR Corp Ltd, China’s largest train maker.

The train “has a maximum tractive power of 22,800 kilowatts, compared with 9,600 kilowatts for the CRH380 trains currentlyin service on the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway, which hold the world speed record of300 km per hour,” China Daily notes.

h/t Reuters | Image Credit: China Daily

Filed Under: Trains, Transportation Tech Tagged With: China, china high-speed rail, china high-speed train, high-speed rail, high-speed trains, HSR, quickies

About Zachary Shahan

If you couldn't guess, I spend most of my time on CleanTechnica and Planetsave. I'm the director/editor of both sites and am a little obsessed with them and the topics they cover. I'm also Publishing Services Manager at Important Media, which means that I do everything I can to support other Important Media writers, editors, and directors (as well as the network as a whole) in the good work they are engaged in. You can also find my work on Scientific American, Reuters, Change.org, most of the sites in the Important Media network, & many other places. For more, or to connect, go to: zacharyshahan.com

Sirsparks Electrical

Great but anyone notice the tracks are rusty and unused ?
No test runs first I guess just like the products we buy from China.

http://cleantechnica.com/ Zachary Shahan

Well, I’m a little confused about your comment, since the announcement is specifically about test runs.

Sirsparks Electrical

Oh OK, 500 KPH is fine on rusty track if it’s only a test run.
My bad!

http://cleantechnica.com/ Zachary Shahan

Well, you were saying/implying that it hadn’t done test runs. That’s all i was replying to.

As to whether or not it did test runs on rusty track, that’s completely unknown. It’s looks like it’s parked on rusty track — but the rocks in the pic look rusty to and it’s clear the color in the photo has been ‘enhanced’ in some ways. But who knows where it was tested. Furthermore, if it’s going to run on rusty track in real life, shouldn’t it be tested on them as well? Shouldn’t it be tested in worst possible conditions?

It seems you’ve got a gripe with China, but don’t go overboard..