Black technology: a super empire spanning two worlds

Chapter 258 [Can share track system with current high-speed rail]

During the trial run, Xiao Yu and the main leaders of Linzhou City personally got on the bus for a test ride. This kind of leading by example was, to a large extent, an endorsement of the safety and reliability of this new type of transportation, which dispelled some concerns in many people's hearts.

Even important people like Xiaoyu and the city’s main leaders were the first to get on the bus for a test ride, which shows that it is really safe and reliable.

According to the established development plan of the project, two lines will be put into operation first after the second half of this year, namely Linzhou Rail Transit Line 1 and Line 2. CRRC will also plan to enter the mass production stage at the beginning of the second quarter.

Line 1, which was the first to be put into operation, is 32.86 kilometers long and has a total of 25 stations. This line connects all external transportation hubs such as Linzhou West Station, Linzhou Station, Linzhou South Station, and Linzhou Airport. It is a backbone urban rail transit route connecting urban transportation hubs.

The laying of magnetic tracks has already begun, and 25 station hubs are now under construction. The construction period is quite tight. There are no problems with the overall planning of the project, and all parties are doing their own job well.

In the next few days, while Xiao Yu was busy preparing for the preliminary matters of the power armor project, Chen Zaiqing, CEO of AVIC Linfei, was invited to attend a meeting in the province. The main leaders of Linzhou City were also in the meeting.

After the meeting, Chen Zaiqing returned to Linzhou City and found Xiao Yu to report the matter.

"The province wants to build an air train line that goes directly to the provincial capital?" Xiao Yu looked at Chen Zaiqing in surprise. The latter nodded and said, "Yes, this meeting is to discuss this matter. The total length is 358 kilometers, and it can cover two prefecture-level cities along the way."

Chen Zaiqing turned his head and looked at the national map on the wall of the office room and said, "This line not only connects Linzhou with the provincial capital and the two prefecture-level cities along the way, but also from the perspective of the national transportation network system, it is also located in the key area of the eight vertical and eight horizontal lines."

Hearing this, Xiao Yu also looked at the map on the wall. After a little thought, he said, "It seems that the provincial leaders are predicting that the country will upgrade the eight vertical and eight horizontal rail transit trunk lines to empty trains in the future, so they want to take the lead and set an example."

Chen Zaiqing nodded immediately and said, "Yes, that's what the provincial leaders said. They believe that rail transit and sky trains will definitely be the future trend. The existing high-speed rail lines will definitely be gradually upgraded to sky trains in the future, and they may not even improve the existing high-speed rail systems and technologies."

Xiao Yu couldn't help but nodded. He obviously agreed with the provincial leader's prediction.

The emergence of the skytrain is indeed of great significance, and is not just limited to the rail transit system within the city.

The emergence of this technological product will most likely lead to the end of the improvement of high-speed rail for two reasons.

One is that the Eastern giant has developed high-speed rail technology to the world's best level. It can be said that the technology is already very mature and there is no room for improvement. However, the more mature the technology is, the more its benefits and costs will be inversely proportional, that is, the marginal benefits will diminish.

The second is that no matter how much the old model is upgraded, it will definitely not be able to compare with the brand-new design. This is most obvious in the comparison between the J-20 fighter and the J-36 fighter. However, the J-20 fighter has been upgraded several times in a row, but no matter how the old model of the fifth-generation aircraft is upgraded and improved, it will never be able to compare with the brand-new design of the first-generation sixth-generation J-36.

Similarly, after the J-36 fighter is improved and upgraded several times in the future, as the marginal benefits decrease, the improvement and upgrade of this model will be directly abandoned, and resources will be invested in the development of the seventh-generation fighter, which is the most cost-effective.

The principle is similar. In the field of rail transit, the relationship between high-speed rail and air train is like the relationship between J-20 fighter and J-36 fighter.

It costs a lot to upgrade the high-speed rail system, but the upper limit of the system may not even reach the lower limit of the empty train system. The investment of the same amount of resources will result in completely disproportionate returns.

This can be described as a "price of happiness". Currently, only the Eastern countries in the world can have this "happy and sad" opportunity. In fact, the high-speed rail network system is not a backward product that will be eliminated in the modern era. You should know that other countries do not have it yet.

But now, Todai has something better than the high-speed rail, which is undoubtedly a complete “happy trouble”.

At this moment, Xiao Yu turned and asked: "What do you think?"

Chen Zaiqing thought for a while and then analyzed: "I think the national level should vigorously promote the layout of superconducting upgrades in the national industrial industry, and it is likely to start with the field of rail transportation network."

Xiao Yu asked back: "What do you mean?"

Chen Zaiqing replied: "The current standard speed of high-speed rail is set at 350 kilometers per hour, but empty trains can easily reach 800-1000 kilometers per hour. It is not allowed to go that fast within the city, but it is different for trunk lines outside the city. It is completely possible. This greatly reduces the time and communication costs of inter-city transportation, and increases the time efficiency by 2 times compared to the current high-speed rail, thus translating into stronger economic benefits."

"Secondly, the investment is lower than that of empty trains in cities. On the one hand, as the scale increases, the average cost will inevitably be significantly reduced due to the scale effect. On the other hand, the existing high-speed rail network tracks are ready-made and can be shared. Basically, there is no need to lay magnetic tracks. Just a slight modification can be made to enable the existing high-speed rail network to have the function of generating electromagnetic fields."

It is worth mentioning that domestic high-speed rail lines are basically powered by electricity. Their power supply systems are mainly composed of power supply grid, contact network and pantograph. The power is supplied by the pantograph-network system at the top of the high-speed rail. The pantograph contacts the high-voltage line to obtain electricity.

The skytrain is essentially also powered by electricity, but it requires additional artificial electromagnetic field constraints to support the train's floating movement.

In short, the skytrain can share the existing track system with the current high-speed rail network. With electricity, it is easy to create an artificial electromagnetic field. The difference is that the skytrain flies at a height above the pantograph system, while the high-speed rail runs unchanged under the pantograph system.

Only some special sections need to be repaved, such as the high-speed rail tunnels that need to be passed through on some routes. The previous design of the high-speed rail network did not have extra space for the catenary system, and empty trains could not pass through the tunnels.

But there is no need to make a big detour. The purpose of the tunnel is to avoid making a big detour, and the empty train can still go under the catenary system and pass through the tunnel.

The solution is not complicated. It is to build an additional ramp dedicated to empty trains on the road section before entering the tunnel, so that the empty train flying above the catenary system can gradually lower its height and then re-enter the main track from the ramp.

At this time, the altitude at which the empty train travels is the same as that of the high-speed rail, so it can pass through the tunnel smoothly.

After exiting the tunnel, the train can climb the ramp and fly again above the catenary system without occupying the original high-speed rail track resources.

During this period, the rail transit system control center can dispatch empty trains or high-speed trains to run at staggered times, or slow down high-speed trains or speed up empty trains, to ensure that track resources are not occupied at the same time when passing through tunnels. This problem can be solved simply through staggered scheduling.

……

(End of this chapter)