China has released details of record-breaking Maglev train tests at the 17th China International Modern Railway Technology and Equipment Exhibition, hinting at a technology breakthrough that could slash journey times between its major cities.
In existence already, the Longyang Road to Shanghai Pudong International Airport Maglev line, already spans 30 km. But in laboratory testing in Yanggao County, Shanxi Province, China’s Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) has trialled the country’s new prototype hyperloop, known as T-Flight, inside a two-kilometre-long vacuum tube track. The T-flight reached speeds of 623 km/h, a record for tube-based transport, with acceleration from 0 to 600 km/h in just 7 seconds, putting Japan’s previous record-holding MLX01 Maglev in the shade. But that’s not all: speeds of 1,000 km/h are being targeted.
China already has over 40,000 kilometres of high-speed rail tracks but the hyperloop’s next-generation technology is being described as “technically mature” by China’s Ministry of Transport which is firmly behind the project. Now China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation engineers are working on the construction of a new 60km high-speed track.
Maglev trains function via magnetic levitation, using opposing magnetic fields to effectively floating the train above its tracks, reducing friction as well as cutting drag inside vacuum-tubes, enabling the train to smash even aircraft speeds. The high-temperature superconducting magnets are stabilised by low-temperature thermostat and refrigeration units that help to mitigate potentially problematic conditions such as high winds.
China unveils a 600 km/h (373 mph) maglev train—now the world’s fastest.
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) July 21, 2025
It can slash Beijing–Shanghai travel time to just 2.5 hours. Powered by magnetic levitation, it’s ultra-quiet, efficient and emits zero direct pollution.pic.twitter.com/nExwHbTDCn
The technology is set to be applied to a Shanghai–Hangzhou hyperloop corridor that, if plans go ahead successfully, could be completed as early as 2035, enabling travellers to land in Shanghai, hop on the Maglev, and be in Hangzhou, the capital of China’s Zhejiang province, 150km away, in just nine minutes, to visit the ancient Grand Canal waterway and the West Lake’s temples, pavilions, gardens and arched bridges, popular with poets and artists for over a thousand years.
It’s a solution that commentators are hailing as game-changing for both domestic and international tourism, as well as for business and cargo, providing a competitor to air transport that, is not only more sustainable than aviation like current trains, but actually faster – changing the way users think about rail transport. For example, journey times between Beijing and Shanghai could be slashed by more than 50%, from the current five and a half hours it takes to cover 1,200 km, down to just two and a half hours, or less.
