Chinese Maglev Trains To Hit 1000 km/h Within Three Years

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We get a look at a lot of strange gadgetry here, folks–and after the recent go-round with the Chinese elevated buses, it’s not surprising to tell you that the next strange advance in travel comes once again from the Chinese who have a new plan: to get the speed of a magnetic levitation train to 1000 km/h within the next three years.

Yes, from the people who brought you elevated buses and analog TV in cell phones comes the magnetic levitation train…entirely encased inside a vacuum tube.

Their idea, you see, is that if you encase something in a vacuum tube, you remove friction. Thus you can fire something by magnetic levitation down the tube and get the best possible speed out of it. Of course, if something goes wrong with the train midway through you can’t actually let anyone out of the car without first pressurizing the tube or making everyone wear spacesuits because they’d suffocate. A series of airlocks would likely help that but add to the cost significantly.

Still though, as ambition goes, it’s hard to beat the vacuum-tube maglev train.