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Technological advances of high-speed railways

High-speed railways running on rails

According to the International Railway Federation, high-speed railways running on rails are railway systems with operating speeds of over 200 km/h by renovating old lines (straightening lines, standardizing track gauges) or railway systems with operating speeds of new lines over 250 km/h. High-speed railways running on rails only operate in the speed range of 200 to 400 km/h due to air resistance and friction. When exceeding a speed of 400 km/h, trains running on rails are very likely to derail and cause accidents.

On October 1, 1964, the Tokaido - Shinkansen high-speed railway line (Japan) officially opened with an operating speed of 210 km/h, transporting about 360,000 passengers per day. This is a dual-track, standard gauge (1,435 mm gauge) electrified line, representing the world's first generation of high-speed rail technology.

High-speed rail: Tokaido Shinkansen, Japan (source: kyotoStation.com).

On January 1, 2008, China's first high-speed rail line was put into operation from Beijing to Tianjin at a speed of 350 km/h. Since then, China's high-speed rail development has accelerated rapidly. By December 2020, China had more than 30,000 km of high-speed rail, making it the country with the longest high-speed rail lines in the world.

Rail-based high-speed railway: Beijing - Tianjin, China (source china-briefing.com).

According to statistics from the International Railway Association, by the end of 2021, 20 countries owned high-speed railways with a length of 58,839 km. High-speed railways running on rails are divided into two types: distributed propulsion trains and centralized propulsion trains. Operational results show that rail-based trains have ensured a high level of safety and transport efficiency.

Magnetic levitation high-speed railways

Research on magnetic levitation technology originated in Germany. In 1922, German engineer Hermann Kemper proposed the principle of electromagnetic levitation. He believed that because the greatest resistance of the train was due to the friction between the train wheels and the rails, if the train could float on the rails, it would run faster. In 1934, Herman received the world's first patent for magnetic technology. After 1970, with increasing economic strength, developed industrial countries such as Germany, Japan, the United States, Canada, France and the United Kingdom began to plan to develop magnetic transportation systems to improve transportation capacity and meet the needs of economic development. Currently, only Germany, Japan, China and South Korea continue to research magnetic levitation systems and have made significant progress.

Although the maglev train is not affected by the frictional resistance between the train and the road, it can only operate at speeds of 400 to 1,000 km/h due to the limitation of air resistance. The operating speed of 1,000 km/h is the warning threshold for high-speed railways running on maglev. When exceeding this speed, the operating cost will be too high.

The world's first operational maglev line was the line connecting Shanghai Pudong International Airport with the city's Longyang Road railway station in China, with a top speed of 431 km/h. Construction began on March 1, 2001, and commercial operation began on January 1, 2004. On July 20, 2021, China launched a maglev train with a maximum design speed of 600 km/h.

On December 2, 2003, three MLX01 maglev trains in Japan set a world record speed of 581 km/h in Yamanashi. However, construction of maglev lines was not approved due to high costs. On April 21, 2015, Japan conducted a test drive of a superconducting magnetic levitation train and set a record speed of 603 km/h (the current highest speed of a manned vehicle on land).

Magnetic levitation trains can be divided into two types based on the principle of the suspension system: electromagnetic buoyancy system and electrodynamic buoyancy system. Magnetic levitation trains have characteristics such as high speed, ability to climb large slopes, low energy consumption, high safety, comfort, no use of fossil fuels such as gasoline, oil, no noise, no vibration. It is expected to become the main means of transportation in the 21st century.

Tube-based high-speed railway

Tube-based high-speed railway is a type of transportation designed with the core principle of "transportation by vacuum tube". It is also known as Hyperloop or pneumatic tube.

With this type, the train can run at speeds of over 1,000 km/h. The idea of a super-fast railway running in a tube was first proposed by Tesla CEO Elon Musk in 2013. Accordingly, for the Hyperloop train to operate, it is necessary to build fixed vacuum tubes on the ground, which operate like rails and place the train in the tube. The train cabin is shaped like a spaceship, weighs about 183 kg (lighter than a car), is about 4.87 m long and can carry 4 to 6 passengers or 367 kg of cargo. The operating mode of the Hyperloop is that the train floats in a vacuum tube, the cockpit is activated by a launcher like a "cannonball". The maximum operating speed of the train can reach 6,500 km/h because the vacuum environment has no friction. With this means of transport, a trip from New York to Los Angeles only takes 5 minutes, from New York to Beijing only takes 2 hours, and a trip around the Earth only takes 6 hours. Currently, China is also planning to build a high-speed train running in a tube with a length of about 150 km, with a speed of up to 1,000 km/h.

High-speed trains running in tubes can be divided into 3 types of speed: low sound (1,000 to 1,200 km/h), medium sound (1,200 to 10,000 km/h), high sound (over 10,000 km/h). High-speed railways running in tubes are characterized by extremely fast speed, high safety, low noise... This could be a new generation of transportation in the future.

Development prospects in Vietnam

Railways in Vietnam are a special industry, playing an important role in the transport infrastructure system, identified as one of the three strategic breakthroughs that need priority investment for socio-economic development, ensuring security - defense and adapting to climate change.

According to the Railway Network Planning for the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050, approved by the Prime Minister under Decision No. 1769/QD-TTg dated October 19, 2021, the goal is to complete the preparation work by 2030. Invest and arrange resources to start construction of a number of new railway lines, prioritizing the North-South high-speed railway line; strive to complete the North-South high-speed railway line by 2050. Notably, on February 28, 2023, on behalf of the Politburo, Standing member of the Secretariat Vo Van Thuong signed and issued Conclusion No. 49-KL/TW of the Politburo on the orientation for the development of Vietnam's railway transport to 2030, with a vision to 2045, with the general goal of developing modern and synchronous railway transport to promote rapid and sustainable socio-economic development, meeting the goal of making our country a high-income developed country by 2045. Railway transport plays a key role in the North-South economic corridor, the main East-West transport corridors and passenger transport in major cities. The Politburo's conclusion also sets a specific target of striving to complete the approval of the investment policy for the North-South High-speed Railway Project by 2025; start construction of priority sections in the 2026-2030 period including Hanoi - Vinh, Ho Chi Minh City - Nha Trang; complete the entire North-South High-speed Railway route before 2045. In addition, the conclusion emphasizes the need to promote research and application of scientific and technological advances; strengthen and diversify international cooperation and technology transfer in the field of railway transport, especially urban railway technology and high-speed railways... It can be affirmed that railways in general and high-speed railways in particular receive great attention from the Party and the State. Among the three types of high-speed railway technology (rail, maglev and tube), rail-based high-speed railway was built more than 50 years ago and is still being used and built in many countries around the world due to its safety and low investment costs. Magnetic-based high-speed railway has high speed, but the investment and construction costs are high, so the ability to apply it in actual exploitation is limited. Tube-based high-speed railway has very high speed, but is still in the testing phase, so it takes a long time to verify in practice. Therefore, rail-based high-speed railway is still the most popular type of railway in the world.

Currently, based on the experience of building high-speed railways in countries around the world, along with the scientific and technological conditions and economic potential of Vietnam, choosing rail-based high-speed railway is the most suitable.