W B Many nations are competing to own the fastest machine. Which country will take the ultimate prize in this top? Will it be China with its bullet train? or Japan with its experimental trains? Now begins the high-speed train war!
#10 Transrapid 07
Germany starts this top with one of its best representatives in speed, the Transrapid 07, a high-speed monorail train using magnetic levitation. Now, let me explain about magnetic levitation since you’ll see it throughout the top. Thanks to the electromagnetic force, the train and the track function together as a magnetic dipole, so that this 110-ton Transrapid, carrying approximately 332 passengers, floats on a frictionless magnetic cushion without contact with the track guideway. This allows it to go at extreme speed, which was proven in 1993 when the Transrapid 07 hit 279 miles per hour at the Emsland Transrapid Test Facility, Germany. Some studies show that this 169.6-foot-long German machine can travel 175.8 miles in 53 minutes, the distance from Hamburg to Berlin that would usually take three hours.
#9 CRH380BL
This 16-car high-speed train version caused a stir in the Chinese press when it was unveiled to the public in September 2010 because of its streamlined shape with a more rounded head and its rabbit-like appearance due to two headlights that resemble round eyes. In 2011, the speed of the CRH380BL was put to the test and reached 302.8 miles per hour, breaking the previous record of 302 miles per hour by the CRH380A train series. However, the CRH380BL not only made headlines for its high speed, but also because in August 2011, its manufacturer China Northern Railways had to recall 54 CRH380BL trainsets used on a rail link between Beijing and Shanghai due to some flaws and breakdowns in said units. The main problems were found to be the quality from the subcontractors and inadequate control by the manufacturers. Following rectifications, the trains returned to service in December 2011. Since then, it’s been running on the Shanghai-Hangzhou and Shanghai-Nanjing high-speed railway routes. Would you ride this train? I’m not sure…
#8 Shanghai Maglev train
China once again claims its place in this top with the Shanghai Maglev Train, though with German technology. This magnetic levitation train is the oldest commercial line still in operation with public commercial service since 2004. The top operational commercial speed of this train is 268 miles per hour. However, during a non-commercial test, it reached a record speed of 311 miles per hour. Are you planning to visit Shanghai? Well, this information will be quite useful. The Shanghai maglev train has a three-class 574-passenger layout; a one-way VIP ticket is about 12.6 dollars, while a round-trip ticket in normal seats is about 10.13 dollars. The line runs 18.6 miles in total from Longyang Road Station to Pudong International Airport in approximately 7.5 minutes. There are many YouTube videos of people talking about their travel experiences. Do you want to join them too?
#7 TGV Atlantique
It’s the turn of a French monster that makes it into this position thanks to its speed of 320 miles per hour. The TGV Atlantique was manufactured by the French multinational Alstom and is powered by electric motors. This 779-foot-long, 444-ton train was built to hit a top speed of 186 miles per hour. But since it’s never enough when it comes to speed, unit 325 had some modifications such as improved aerodynamics and larger wheels so it can fly on the high-speed line near Vendome, France. This unit, made of two power cars and three carriages in total, is currently deactivated. But don’t worry, it’s preserved by Alstom in La Rochelle, plus, some complete versions with ten carriages and a capacity for 485 seats still run on some routes in France.
#6 ML 500
This is the most unusual train in this top, and it also has a somewhat different story. The ML 500 was built in Japan in 1977 to experiment with vehicle performance at high speed on the Miyazaki Maglev test line. The 44.2-foot-long, 9.5-foot-tall ML 500 managed to reach a whopping 321 miles per hour. This small yet powerful train was unmanned but weighed 10 tons. After testing, The ML 500 was placed on exhibition at the Osaka Transportation Museum in 1981 until its closure in 2014. It was then moved to the Railway Technical Research Institute Center, where it resides to this day. Testing with the ML 500 allowed many advances in train technology in Japan. Stay tuned to this video, as the successors of this mini-train have risen to the top.
#5 TGV POS
This is another fast example of the power of electricity on the tracks! Thanks to its maximum output of 26,300 horsepower, it dethroned the TGV Atlantique, which you saw in 7th place, when it hit the speed record of 357.2 miles per hour in 2007 during a test on the Paris-Strasbourg line. To achieve this, the TGV POS number 4402 was made of three specially modified duplex cars, two power cars, larger diameter wheels, and a modified catenary voltage. The TGV POS was designed by Alstom and operated by the French National Railway Company, which put it into service in 2007, connecting France, Germany, and Switzerland. Since 2019, all TGV POS trainsets operate strictly in domestic services from Paris-Nord Station to Paris-Est Station.
#4 MLX01-2
This magnetic levitation super-train was manufactured by Nippon Sharyo and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. It’s part of a series of nine experimental trains tested on the tracks of the Yamanashi Maglev line. The MLX01-2 ran on the tracks, showing its great power by hitting 361 miles per hour in a manned test in 2003. It was able to magnificently achieve that speed as it only had three cars and a small wedge-shaped nose to improve air resistance. The body of these trains has an aluminum alloy semi-monocoque structure with a length of 91.8 feet. The MLX01-2 was Japan’s breakthrough in rail transportation as it’s designed to withstand fluctuations in external pressure when going in a tunnel.
#3 Maglev Bullet train
China’s leadership in high-speed rail technology is clear in this top. So, to reaffirm this, China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation created a monster that can hit a top speed of 373 miles per hour, which is half the speed of sound, 767.29 miles per hour. CRRC provides high-performance vehicles to the whole world, and of course, couldn’t fail to manufacture one of the fastest magnetic levitation trains to run on national soil. With its powerful speed, it can complete the 754-mile trip between Beijing and Shanghai in 2.5 hours. That same trip takes just over 3 hours by plane, 5.5 hours by current high-speed rail options, or 12 hours by car. Besides its high speed, the train emits low levels of noise pollution and requires less maintenance than other high-speed trains. Although not yet in operation, in the next few years, the Maglev bullet train will be able to carry between 2 and 10 passenger cars.
#2 SCMaglev L0 Series
Japan once again proves its skill on the tracks with the L0-series high-speed train. This cutting-edge maglev model, propelled by electrically charged magnets, leaves the station on wheels, but as it accelerates, the wheels retract, and the power of the magnets allows the vehicle to hover 4 inches above the tracks. Thanks to this system, the Maglev L0 made history by reaching an incredible speed of 375 miles per hour in 2015. The most astonishing thing about this Japanese feat is that the seven-car L0-series carried 49 Central Japan Railway employees and traveled a total of 1.1 miles in approximately 11 seconds along a test track near Mount Fuji. Staff members who had this extreme experience described it as a “comfortable and stable” ride. Its commercial operation will become a reality in 2027 with the construction of a route that will transport passengers from Tokyo to Nagoya in just 40 minutes. Making this possible will cost a whopping 50.5 billion dollars.
#1 XP-2 Virgin Hyperloop
Take a good look at this vehicle because it’s the future of high-speed transportation. This is the XP-2 Virgin Hyperloop, a variant of the vacuum train. This nifty technology uses electric propulsion and magnetic levitation to propel pods through a large vacuum tube. Thanks to this, it can hit 760 miles per hour. That’s right, up to 10 times faster than the traditional train. This means that passengers could get from Los Angeles to San Francisco in 30 minutes or New York to Washington DC in just 29 minutes for a fraction of the price of a plane ticket. Who is responsible for such a feat? None other than the American transportation technology company Virgin Hyperloop. In November 2020, after over 400 unmanned tests, Virgin Hyperloop conducted the first trial with passengers who experienced the power of speed in Las Vegas, Nevada. After this successful test, Virgin Hyperloop unveiled its commercial vehicle design in January 2021. Each vehicle will seat 28 passengers but can carry thousands of passengers per hour in convoys. It’s estimated to be in commercial operation by 2030.
These were the amazing speed machines you could hop on. Comment and share it!
