All aboard this upside-down ‘flying’ train in China

Xinhua Syndication via SWNS

China on Tuesday completed the construction of the country's first independently-developed trial line using rare earth permanent magnetic levitation (PML) technology.

Dubbed "Rainbow," the maglev line that is about 800 meters (2,624 feet) long was built in Xingguo County, east China's Jiangxi Province.

The trial line, jointly developed by the Jiangxi University of Science and Technology, China Railway Liuyuan Group (CRL Group), China Railway Hi-Tech Industry Co., Ltd. and China National Rare Earth Functional Material Innovation Center, can be applied to bear air trains with medium and low speed and volume.

With a designed maximum speed of 80 kilometers (49 miles) per hour, the rail system now can serve a two-carriage maglev train with a carrying capacity of 88 people. The transit system is equipped with the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, 5G and intelligent sensing technologies.

The track with rare earth PML technology can keep trains in a state of suspension, which is energy-saving and environmentally friendly.

"The maglev line 'Rainbow' is the perfect combination of a suspended monorail and the permanent magnetic levitation technology. The suspended monorail has several advantages: it doesn't take ground space, it has an independent right of way, and its cost is low."