In Japan they are building a new maglev train that is supposed to be faster than any before. The Maglev could bring high export revenues. Unless the competition from China is faster.
- The Japanese maglev system „Maglev“Is supposed to enable trips of up to 620 kilometers per hour.
- Out China threatens competition.
- Over a distance between New York and Washington D.C. is speculated.
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Tokyo – It hisses through the landscape as fast as lightning. But from inside the ride feels so quiet, as if nothing is moving. This is how foreign visitors often describe their first impressions after using the Shinkansen have driven. Hardly any technological development from Japan impresses the world more than this high-speed train.
Prototype of the Chinese magnetic levitation train.
© imago images/VCG
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The data speak for themselves: he covers 300 kilometers per hour, he almost always reaches his destination on time, and there has never been a fatal accident. No wonder that Japan is considered a world power in rail traffic.
Magnetic levitation train in Japan should be able to travel up to 620 kilometers per hour
The East Asian country now wants to become even better. Engineers have been building on behalf of the railway company for five years JR Central am Maglev, one Magnetic levitation system, which should set new standards. Speeds from 620 kilometers per hour are promised the 286-kilometer maiden route from Such after Nagoya the new train would cover in 40 minutes. The first section alone costs 9.3 trillion yen (around 75 billion euros). For doubling the distance to after Osaka there are billions more. It is one of the largest infrastructure projects in the Japanese Story.
One might wonder what the whole thing is supposed to be: Even now, trains are hardly ever running as closely as in Japan. Leaves every three minutes during peak hours Shinkansen the capital Such in the direction Osaka, the second largest metropolitan area in the country.
The Shinkansen is also so punctual because he does not have to share the tracks with slower trains – as is customary for express trains in Europe. Every medium-sized city is also connected by regional trains. Probably no country in the world can currently compete with Japan’s route network. The success of this train system speaks in favor of expanding it further. The connection between Tokyo and Osaka, Japan’s busiest route, is so congested that, despite the short train intervals, thousands of travelers and commuters take the air every day. Several times a day a Boeing 747 with a capacity of 400 flies back and forth between the economic centers, which are around 400 kilometers apart.
Maglev in Japan could make short-haul flights obsolete
This is how the mega project works Maglev – apart from the relatively small one power consumption of Magnetic levitation trains – also indirectly that environmental Protection. Because once it is finished, fewer people are likely to pollute the planet through short-haul flights.
A group of onlookers cheered the unveiling of a prototype of the Maglev maglev train in Japan.
© STR / afp
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But when will it be ready? It’s a question that is starting to make investors nervous. The year 2027 was originally targeted for the first section of the route. But last summer the governor put the interim Such and Nagoya located prefecture Shizuoka, through which for the Maglev a 1400 meter deep tunnel is to be dug through which the suspension railway will then lead, his veto.
Local people have raised concerns about the environmental Protection concerns. Should the groundwater be polluted, the cultivation of the plants of the valuable green tea would be endangered Shizuoka is known. Negotiations are currently being resumed as to how this problem can be solved.
Race between Japan and China for supremacy over the maglev train
Meanwhile, the builders of JR Central probably less the quality of the tea than the competition. It’s a race against a local rival. Also in China, where the one developed in Germany in 2002 Magnetic train Transrapid began to drive, a new maglev project is underway – as a clear rival project to the Japanese.
The Communist Party-controlled newspaper “China Daily” has its regional neighbor as a “strong rival” Japan in terms of train development. The Chinese technology should come to 600 kilometers per hour and a larger route network. Between Shanghai and the eastern port city Ningbo Work is currently underway on a route that, after several delays, should be completed by 2035 according to the current plan.
In Japan on the other hand, one wanted to go to the first section of Such to Nagoya the total distance up Osaka actually only inaugurated in 2045. To speed this up, however, the government announced a loan of three trillion yen in 2016 JR Central. The target is now 2037. “We are doing everything we can to complete the route as quickly as possible,” said Yuriko Akahoshi, spokeswoman for JR Central, told Bloomberg news agency in November. The words were on the one hand to the environmentalists: inside in Shizuoka directed, on the other hand to the competition in China – and thus to the whole world.
Magnetic levitation trains are very promising in the face of a global energy transition
Because the race for the fastest train on the planet is not only about national prestige, but also about export markets. In the course of the development of numerous emerging countries, whose populations are growing and transport networks have to be expanded, experts estimate the export potential of a new train technology at around two trillion US dollars (1.6 trillion euros). Also are Magnetic levitation trains given a global energy transition towards sustainable means of transport, because they can run on green electricity.
The Maglev magnetic levitation train thunders past Tsuru, a city in western Tokyo, during a test drive.
© TORU YAMANAKA / afp
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In recent years there has been increasing evidence that China could be ahead in the race. The state project of the New Silk Road, financed with 850 billion US dollars, with which 900 countries are involved in infrastructure projects on several continents China is tied to large orders such as building one Magnetic levitation train practically created.
They also stung chinese Bidders in 2015 the Japanese Competitors out when it came to building one High-speed train in Indonesian Jakarta went. On the other hand, there were considerable delays in this project, so that the Japanese side was finally taken into the process.
Provider plans suspension railway between Washington DC and New York
To send a signal worldwide, the Japanese advertises JR Central meanwhile another major order. The Maglev one also wants between for the US market Washington D. C., and New York to build. It is said that no license fees would be charged for this. Japanese The government has also indicated that it fully supports the project. After all, it is about “the international expansion of the Japanese train system”. (Felix Lill)
Rubriklistenbild: © imago images/VCG
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