New maglev world record achieved by China

 China achieved new world record with its magnetic levitation train by exceeding 650 km/h 

China achieves a new world milestone with its magnetic levitation train and seven seconds is all it took. Prototype reaches speed of 650km/h in 07 seconds. During trials at the Donghu Laboratory High-Speed Magnetic Levitation Electromagnetic Propulsion Technology Innovation Centre in Hubei province in central China, 650km/h was achieved by a 1.1 tonne vehicle running on a 1km test track on 17 June 2025. On a June morning in Hubei Province, engineers at Donghu Laboratory slid a sleek one-ton test vehicle onto a magnetic guide way, counted down, and fired 30,000 newton's of electromagnetic force. By the time observers blinked, the car blazed through a speed gun at 650 km/h (404 mph) then braked to a crawl before smashing into the end wall of the 1-km tube. Chinese state media promptly declared a fresh rail speed record, edging past Japan’s storied 603 km/h run in 2015.

Li Weichao, director of the centre, says that the trial used advanced short-distance boost technology, with positioning accuracy achieved within a margin of 4mm. The trial vehicle showed that it could safely brake within 220m, using electromagnetic boost brakes combined with a precise speed measurement and positioning system. The prototype’s party trick lies in brute acceleration. Linear motors embedded along the guide way push and pull powerful magnets on the vehicle’s underbelly, replacing wheels with a friction-free cushion of repulsion. According to project chief Li Weichao, the sled hit top speed after just 600 meters and safely stopped within the remaining 400. Engineers liken the motion to a pinball: all juice up front, gravity-free glide in the middle, opposite current to arrest the surge.

Back in 2008, when Beijing still painted fresh lanes for its first Olympics, China’s high-speed rail network amounted to a 120-km shuttle between the capital and Tianjin. Seventeen years and 45,000 tracked km's later, the country hosts two-thirds of the world’s bullet-train mileage and sells the technology everywhere from Serbia to Indonesia. The new maglev experiment signals that Beijing has no interest in tapping the brakes. Until now, bragging rights belonged to Japan’s superconducting maglev, which clocked 603 km/h on a 42-km mountain track near Mount Fuji. China’s sprint beat that by 47 km/h, but it did so with a much smaller vehicle and without a human driver aboard. Still, speed is speed, and the gap restarts a friendly but fierce technological rivalry spanning three decades.

Researchers say their current magnets can handle 800 km/h, though they must lengthen the test track. A 30-km segment outside Wuhan is scheduled for 2027, at which point the team hopes to flirt with four-digit speeds, around 1,000 km/h, once power electronics, cooling and passenger safety hurdles fall. Levitation removes wheel drag, yet air resistance balloons exponentially past 500 km/h. Donghu’s test tube isn’t evacuated, but its ends seal quickly, letting fans lower air density slightly, just think 3,000 m elevation. Future 800 km/h versions may need partial vacuum tunnels or deep-underground routes, concepts similar to the US hyper loop proposals shelved in 2023. Every extra 100 km/h demands disproportionate capital. Tracks must stay arrow-straight, tunnels must be wide enough to bleed off pressure waves, and stations need aircraft-grade security buffers. China’s answer is scale: it already built the 164-km Danyang-Kunshan Viaduct, the world’s longest bridge, just to keep its Beijing–Shanghai high-speed line flat. If any nation can pour enough concrete to domesticate 1,000 km/h rail, critics admit it is probably China. Several commercial maglev lines are currently operating in China, including in Beijing, Shanghai and Changsha in Hunan province. Last year, construction started on the first phase of a 48.7km maglev line between Changsha and Liuyang in Hunan province, described as China’s first inter-city maglev line, which will have a top speed of 160km/h. A seven-second experiment does not guarantee 1,000-km/h commuter runs next decade, but it shifts the Overton window of rail speed.

Airlines still own long-haul routes above 1,500 km, but maglev’s sweet spot, city pairs 500-1,000 km apart, throws shade on jets. The existing 431 km/h Shanghai maglev covers its 30-km airport hop in 7 minutes, yet tickets cost only $8. If 650 km/h prototypes mature into 50-car passenger sets, they could link Shanghai and Wuhan (810 km) in 90 minutes at business-class pricing, all on grid electricity instead of jet fuel. American rail watchers view the sprint as both sobering and inspiring. While California’s high-speed project inches along at 350 km/h, China leapfrogs toward airliner speeds. Baltimore’s shelved maglev proposal might revive if Chinese suppliers promise turnkey systems. Europe, wary of fresh competition, is already lobbying for stricter international safety rules. For now, we can only sit and envy China’s new revolution in train systems and break previous records.