Much attention is being turned to the Yangtze River Shanghai-Nanjing High-speed Railway, a new line that will speed us to the big smoke even faster. In a matter of days, a test train will get up to 385 km/h.
The brand-new line takes a more northerly route between the two mega cities, coming quite close to the Yangtze River in places, hence the name. With the track and stations complete, and the line electrified, a flurry of recent activity is putting exciting new travels within our grasp.
It’s been little more than 2 weeks since hot-sliding tests were carried out on the line, checking connectivity between the overhead catenary and the train’s pantograph.
No time was then wasted, as on 18 June, the CRH380AJ-0203 high-speed comprehensive inspection train (CIT; 高速综合检测列车; pictured) took to the tracks for an eight-step series of tests, each at an ever-greater speed.
Starting out at 180 km/h, the test train went on to achieve a speed of 310km/h on 28 June. Test data coming in from the unit at each speed level was normal, reports The Paper.
In that last test, the CIT took just 1 hour, 2 minutes to journey from Nanjing South to Taicang.
Next comes the big test; 385 km/h on 4 July, if all goes well.
But what is the CRH380AJ-0203 high-speed comprehensive inspection train and how does it work?
Much like many of its passenger-carrying cousins, the CRH380AJ-0203 is an eight-carriage train set, but with few people, it is jammed with equipment. And dubbed “Doctor Huang” in Chinese (黄医生; Doctor Yellow).
The first three coaches of the train handle communication-signal inspection, catenary and comprehensive-system inspections, and track dynamics, respectively.
Then there are two coaches full of other equipment, a dining and rest coach, and one with sleeper compartments. Lastly, the other end of the train is made up by an additional communication-signal-inspection coach.
While China’s CITs are in put to use on all the high-speed lines in China, some have also gone further afield, to work on the Jakarta-Bandung High Speed Rail in Indonesia.
The Yangtze River Shanghai-Nanjing High-speed Railway has a total length of 278.53 kilometres and a maximum-design speed of 350 km/h. Stations along the line comprise Nanjing South, Jurong, Jintan, Wujin, Jiangyin, Zhangjiagang, Changshu and Taicang.
While there are those who will just be looking forward to some alternate scenery on their way to weekends in Shanghai, the line is of great significance to the region’s economic and social development. For as it is said, wherever a railway goes, prosperity is sure to follow.
