China is making a daring leap into the future of transportation with a hyperloop transportation system capable of moving faster and more efficiently than commercial aviation. The hyperloop is a project that combines magnetic levitation (maglev) technology of special high-speed trains with low-pressure vacuum tubes, and it is already undergoing its first tests, with some routes scheduled to be put into operation later this year.

Testing Future Speed in ShanxiInitial tests are being held in Shanxi province, where the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) has built a 2-kilometer test track. Hyperloop capsules including superconducting maglev magnetic levitation magnets will literally hover a few centimeters above the track allowing virtually no friction.

In addition, the capsules run in a vacuum tube where the air pressure is significantly lowered, thus allowing for near-zero air resistance and only limited speeds above 1,000 km/hr. Although Chinese authorities have not released official speeds reached during the first tests, insiders within the program believe the system could ultimately be able to exceed speeds of 1,000 kilometers per hour.At that speed, travel time between Beijing and Shanghai could be as little as 90 minutes, vastly faster than the current 4.5 hour travel time on the high-speed trains.