Changsha welcomes second batch of maglev trains

Two new trains are now in the final stages of debugging and are expected to arrive in central Changsha of Hunan province as early as the end of this month.

Compared with the old trains, the new models have many upgraded features. The most obvious improvement is that it is light weight - each weighs 1.5 tons less. The reduction is equal to the weight of 25 people, weighing an average 60 kilograms each. This means it can carry more passengers during peak times while consume less energy during non-peak periods.

Si En, an engineer with the CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive Co, told China Daily that many new materials have been used in the interior decoration of the two trains.

"We have employed a new hydraulic braking system with a device that shifts air pressure gone. This device weighs hundreds of kilograms," Si said.

The maintenance of the new train has also been streamlined. Data collection used to cost a lot of time and energy, and now the data can be downloaded into a computer by USB.

"It greatly improves the efficiency of data analysis and downloading," Si said.

The two trains will soon begin a trial operation, taking the number of maglev trains operating on Changsha Maglev Express to seven. The operation interval of the trains will further be slashed.

The first Chinese middle-to-low speed magnetically levitated (maglev) rail line began operating in Changsha in May last year.