China Builds World's Fastest Train, But No Tracks for It to Travel on

Travel times between Beijing and Shanghai could be even shorter than by air.

Lack of Tracks

China has built a maglev bullet train that it says can reach a blistering 373 miles per hour — making it the world's fastest train.

Unfortunately, it doesn't have any place to go right now, because the inventors behind it haven't yet built any tracks for it to travel on. Eventually, though, they say there will be an entire network of maglev tracks to supercharge the country's transportation infrastructure.

Despite the lack of tracks, the train is an absolute beast and an engineering marvel. Thanks to the fact that it glides on top of a cushion of strong electromagnetic forces, it emits only low levels of noise and requires far less maintenance than other high-speed trains, according to CNN.

It also greatly increases passenger capacity, according to Chinese state-owned news agency Global Times. If the tracks work out, it could be an amazing coup for advanced transportation.

Maglev Network

China is hoping to establish "three hour transportation circles" between major cities in the country, greatly reducing travel times without relying on air travel.

In fact, the new maglev train travels about 120 mph slower than a commercial airliner.

And without the need of navigating sprawling airports and waiting on the runway, travel times between Beijing and Shanghai might end up being shorter than taking a plane, according to the Global Times.

That journey currently takes about two hours by air, while the same trip would take just 2.5 hours on the high speed maglev train. Just standing in line for security at an airport would easily take up the extra half hour.

If China can build out the infrastructure, the advantages over air travel could be immense.

READ MORE: China debuts world's fastest train [CNN]

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