China launches super-speed test train

QINGDAO, Shandong - China's largest rail vehicle maker, CSR Corp Ltd, over the weekend launched its first test train that features speeds reaching up to 500 km per hour.

The six-car train with a fairshaped head is the newest in the CRH series. It has a maximum tractive power of 22,800 kilowatts, compared with 9,600 kilowatts for the CRH380 trains currently in service on the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway, which hold the world speed record of 300 km per hour.

The grey-color train carrying testing and data processing facilities was designed and produced by CSR Sifang Locomotive & Rolling Stock Co Ltd (Sifang Locomotive), a CSR subsidiary based in the coastal city of Qingdao in eastern Shandong province.

Ding Sansan, the company's chief technician, said the concept of the the super-speed train design was inspired by China's ancient sword. The bodywork uses plastic materials reinforced with carbon fiber.

Shen Zhiyun, a locomotive expert and academician with both the Chinese academies of sciences and engineering, said the testing of the super-speed train with speeds of up to 500 km per hour will provide useful reference for current high-speed railway operations.