Beijing plans to construct maglev railway to Mentougou District

The current plan is to use maglev trains on the S1 line.

Beijing Urban Engineering Design and Research Institute Chief, Yang Xiuren disclosed that Bejing is currently drawing up long term plans for a maglev line—the S1 line heading towards Mentougou. These plans will use maglev technology independently researched and developed by China. The low to medium speed maglev train jointly developed by Beijing Enterprises Holdings Maglev Technology Development Company and the National University of Defense Technology is the only train developed entirely based on China’s intellectual property.

Experts on site disclosed that the line will be over 20 kilometers long, but “the entire plan has not been determined yet.”

An official from Beijing Traffic Management Bureau said in an interview that the maglev trains will initially be used on the S1 line, which they are planning to complete by 2015. According to sources, the S1 line will begin in the east from the West Fourth Ring road at Dinghuiqiao North Fifth road where it links with subway line 6, will pass through Tiancun and Shijingshan, and travel further west to reach Mentougou Township of Mentougou District, covering a total length of 27 kilometers.

Unraveling the mystery

Advantage 1: building costs are much lower than the subway

On August 8, Chen Shunliang from the Maglev Engineering Project Center at the National University of Defense Technology pointed out that compared to the current subway and urban railways, the building cost of the maglev line will be much cheaper. Each kilometer will only cost several tens of millions of yuan, compared to the subway which cost 700 million yuan per kilometer, resulting in massive savings.

Advantage 2: the ownership of intellectual property rights

Reporters learned that the speed of these trains can reach up to 150 kilometers per hour, and currently uses two operating systems: manual and automatic.

Compared to the maglev trains in Shanghai that use expensive German technology and can reach speeds of 400-500 km per hour, China’s domestically developed low to medium speed maglev trains are more suitable for intra-city transport. The building costs are not only a lot lower, but the train will also be entirely built using China’s independent intellectual property.

Advantage 3: it can pass through areas with a high building density

In comparison with the subway, there is no need to dig tunnels for the maglev trains, which results in massive savings. Compared to the urban light railway, these trains turn well, make little noise and are able to climb hills, allowing it to travel through areas which have a high building density.

“We announced publicly that the lowest turning radius was 75 meters, but during tests, we were able to reach 25 meters. Most subway trains have a turning radius of around 300 meters,” said an expert on site.

Furthermore, in areas where digging a tunnel is impossible due to soil composition, for example, in cities like Kunming and Jinan, using a maglev train as city rail transportation is a lot more practical.

Translated by LOTO