The train is the first of its kind, in that it uses high-temperature superconducting maglev technology, and it was designed and manufactured in China, according to state-run Xinhua News Agency.
The completion of the engineering prototype and its testing tracks marked a "zero to one" moment in the study of high-temperature superconducting maglev technology, Xinhua said.
The high-temperature superconducting maglev is different from existing maglevs, which use low-temperature superconducting technology or normal conducting magnetic levitation, and the change will enable a steadier ride for the train.
With its all-carbon fiber lightweight body, bullet-shaped nose and heavy-haul high-temperature superconducting technology, the prototype train has a designed peak speed of 620 km per hour, likely the fastest of any vehicle on Earth, according to the Xinhua report.
Enticingly, the report said that, if combined with near-vacuum tube or tunnel technology, the train is expected to bring a subversive transformation to the rail transit sector in the future.
This is the second maglev prototype with a speed at 600 km per hour or faster from companies and academic institutions in China.
A prototype high-speed maglev test vehicle with a speed of 600 km per hour, developed by CRRC Qingdao Sifang Co, successfully ran on a test line at Tongji University in Shanghai in June 2020.
An industry insider said that since Xinhua declared that the system was the world's first high-temperature superconducting maglev train, the one from the CRRC unit could be using low-temperature superconducting technology.
The concept of superfast bullet trains originated in the US, but it is becoming a reality in China.
Sun Zhang, a railway expert and professor at Shanghai Tongji University, said there is some difference between the Chinese super bullet maglev and the ultrafast hyper-loop transport system championed by US industrialist Elon Musk.
"The Chinese trains are pragmatic while Musk's hyperloop is futuristic," Sun told the Global Times on Wednesday.
The 600-km-per-hour train is for normal atmospheric pressure, as trains running in a vacuum tunnel could easily top that speed to a range of more than 1,000 km per hour, Sun said.
However, to put passengers inside a vacuum tube, scientists need to solve the issues of safety and cost.
Southwest Jiaotong University in Chengdu is reportedly pushing the project. The high-temperature superconducting magnetic levitation has a relative cost advantage over low-temperature superconducting technology.
China is now a world leader in developing maglev technology. At least three maglev rail routes are in the planning stage in the country to push the development of the high-speed maglev train system.
Maglev trains are viewed by many as a means to fill the speed gap between aviation and the country's world-beating high-speed railway system, which runs at a speed of 350 km per hour.
