Transrapid + Hong Kong + Universal Studios + BDI + Alaska + Chips + Johnny Erling • China.Table

CRRC examines Lathen as Transrapid test track
Beijing adopts electoral law reform for Hong Kong
Universal Studios open in Beijing
BDI: Xinjiang endangers CAI
USA-China meeting in Alaska next week
Chips: China-US cooperation
Johnny Erling: hurt feelings and old friends

Dear reader,

The Transrapid monorail was seen as a testament to German innovation and engineering prowess before it became a multi-billion-dollar grave and political disaster, ultimately ending in a human tragedy in Emsland. China has since further developed magnetic levitation technology and is now planning several high-speed lines. To push ahead with this ambitious project, the state-owned CRRC is now looking into working with German and European partners to revitalize the former Transrapid test track in Lathen. An initial inquiry in Emsland has been confirmed to China.Table. Frank Sieren has the details.

Seemingly completely unaffected by international criticism, the Chinese “people’s representatives” ended the 2021 National People’s Congress yesterday with the decision to only admit “patriotic” – i.e., loyal to Beijing – deputies to the political bodies in Hong Kong in the future. Marcel Grzanna classifies this attack on democracy. It will be interesting to see how the process influences the US-Chinese foreign ministers’ meeting next Thursday in Alaska.

How the Chinese government has been using the accusation of “hurting the feelings of the Chinese people” for decades to enforce foreign policy interests – and, above all, how successful it has been in doing so – is dissected by Johnny Erling today. Angela Merkel was also once accused of this. However, she has long since become a “lao pengyou”, a “time-honored friend of the Chinese people“.

Your
Antje Sirleschtov

Feature

CRRC examines Lathen as Transrapid test track

China wants to further develop magnetic levitation technology for high-speed trains and is looking into cooperating with European partners and revitalizing the former Transrapid test track in Lathen in the Emsland region. According to information from China.Table, the state-owned railway group CRRC has already made an inquiry to the operating company of the former test track in Lathen. CRRC has developed two of its own prototypes based on German Transrapid technology but does not have its own test track for long-term testing. In China, maglev trains are considered a pillar of the government’s climate plans.

By
Frank Sieren

Under the direction of the state-owned railway company China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC), two Transrapid prototypes have been developed in recent years. One of the trains, named CRRC 600 and consisting of six elements, is a further development of the Transrapid TR08, manufactured by ThyssenKrupp at the time. It will not be able to travel faster than 600 kilometers per hour.

The second train is being developed by Southwest Jiaotong University Chengdu and CRRC. It could become a so-called Hyperloop train that also travels over 1000 kilometers per hour.

Transrapid 2.0: through the tube in a vacuum

The biggest technical difference: The Hyperloop is a Transrapid 2.0, which will travel in a likely transparent acrylic tube in which a vacuum is created. This means the train has no air resistance to overcome. Otherwise, the high speeds, which correspond to those of an airplane, are technically impossible to achieve.

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