There was a time when high speed meant exceeding 200 km/h. Then the trains arrived at 300 km/h, and we thought we had reached the limit. But China just proved that when it comes to speed, the sky really is the limit.
T-Flight: high speed takes flight
The Chinese state-owned company CASIC, specialized in missiles and motorized launch pads, announced a milestone in the field of land transport. Their magnetic levitation train, called T-Flight, has reached an incredible speed of 999 km/h during tests in Shanxi province, northern China.
The T-Flight is not a simple high-speed train. It is the union between magnetic levitation (maglev) and a tunnel that drastically reduces air resistance. Does it remind you of something called Hyperloop? With one difference: this project is moving forward at full speed.
The tests and the results
During the latest test, the T-Flight was launched into a 2 km long “low” vacuum tube. The results, according to the CASIC press release? The prototype traveled in a controlled manner, stopped safely at the end of the run, and all systems functioned correctly.
Above all, the speed figure obviously stands out, which exceeds previous records and today stands at 620km. Tomorrow it will touch the 1000 km/h mark. Practically the same as an airliner.
High speed, perspectives and obstacles
CASIC has only one step left for its project: a full speed test on a 60 km track. The next step is to connect megacities such as Beijing and Shanghai (1 hour versus the current 4 and a half hours). Like saying Naples-Milan in 40 minutes, something like that would change our country forever.
“This project could revolutionize the way we think about internal transport,” says a CASIC spokesperson. “Imagine crossing China at the speed of an airplane, but without leaving the ground.”
It is clear that, beyond the enthusiastic declarations, the path towards the creation of a functioning "almost Hyperloop" system is still long. Costs and above all safety conditions for passengers will require significant efforts.
High speed, how fast do we go elsewhere?
While China tests the T-Flight, other Hyperloop projects around the world appear to be stalled, but interest in “magnetic” high speed in all guises persists.
Currently, the official record for the fastest train is held by Japan, with its maglev Series L0 which reaches 602 km/h. China itself had presented a magnetic levitation train in 2021 capable of reaching first 430 and then 600 km/h.
Implications for the future of transportation
If T-Flight were to become operational, it could redefine the concept of long-distance commuting, and compete directly with medium-to-long-distance air travel.
Without excessive triumphalism but with extreme curiosity we will follow the project. Because, whether T-Flight becomes an operational reality or remains an ambitious experiment, it has already demonstrated that the limits we thought were insurmountable are only temporary.
In the not-too-distant future, we may find ourselves traveling across a continent at the speed of a plane, but with the convenience and frequency of a train. High speed, as we know it today, may soon become a thing of the past, replaced by a new generation of transportation that challenges our imagination and redefines the very concept of speed.
