China launches super-speed test train

China's largest rail vehicle maker, CSR Corp. Ltd, over the weekend launched its first test train that features speeds reaching up to 500 km per hour. The six-car train with a fairshaped head is the newest in the CRH series. It has a maximum tractive power of 22,800 kilowatts, compared with 9,600 kilowatts for the CRH380 trains currently in service on the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway, which hold the world speed record of 300 km per hour. The grey-color train carrying testing and data processing facilities was designed and produced by CSR Sifang Locomotive & Rolling Stock Co., Ltd (Sifang Locomotive), a CSR subsidiary based in the coastal city of Qingdao in eastern Shandong province. Ding Sansan, the company's chief technician, said the concept of the the super-speed train design was inspired by China's ancient sword. The bodywork uses plastic materials reinforced with carbon fiber. Shen Zhiyun, a locomotive expert and academician with both the Chinese academies of sciences and engineering, said the testing of the super-speed train with speeds of up to 500 km per hour will provide useful reference for current high-speed railway operations.