Engineers designing a new super high speed train in China capable of 600km/hr say it could rival air travel one day.

The country’s latest high-speed maglev train, designed by State-owned China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC), is scheduled to go into commercial production in 2021 after some extensive testing of the sleek-looking train.

Camera Icon The new Chinese magnetic levitation (maglev) prototype is designed to reach speeds of 600km/hr. Credit: Supplied

CRRC is confident high-speed maglev trains will soon be competitive with air travel for overall convenience.

“Take Beijing to Shanghai as an example – counting preparation time for the journey, it takes about 4.5 hours by plane, about 5.5 hours by high-speed rail, and (would only take) about 3.5 hours with (the new) high-speed maglev,” said CRRC deputy chief engineer Ding Sansan, head of the train’s research and development team.

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And that is in spite of the fact that the cruising speed of commercial aircraft is about 900km/h. While trains on the Beijing-Shanghai line currently have a maximum operating speed of 350km/h, a high-speed maglev running at 600km/h could narrow the gap between high-speed rail and air travel.

Camera Icon A Transrapid high speed train at Longyang Lu station in Shanghai, China. This maglev train can reach speeds of more than 430km/hr. Credit: istock, Istock

A maglev train floats on a magnetically powered cushion of air instead of using wheels on a track. This reduces friction and allows the craft to reach incredibly fast speeds, for instance, 430 kilometres per hour top speed of a maglev already in operation in Shanghai.

Ding says the prototype has been in development for around three years. He and his team believe that they have developed a lightweight and high-strength train body that will serve as a testing foundation for five more prototypes after this one.

High-speed rail was again on the agenda in Australia during the recent federal election campaign when Labor promised $1 billion to begin buying the land corridor for an east coast high-speed rail line between Melbourne and Brisbane via Canberra and Sydney.

Citing a 2013 study, Labor said the train could reach speeds of up to 350km/hr over a route of more than 1700km.

Camera Icon Proposals for high speed rail in Australia say the express journey between Sydney and Brisbane could be 2 hours 37 minutes, and 2 hours and 44 minutes between Sydney and Melbourne. Credit: Supplied

It found express journey times would be 2 hours 37 minutes between Brisbane and Sydney, one hour and four minutes between Sydney and Canberra, and two hours and 44 minutes between Sydney and Melbourne.

Governments would be required to fund most of the upfront capital costs, for a project estimated to cost $114bn in 2012 terms, it said.

CRRC’s new prototype will not be the first train to hit these kinds of speeds. Around 4 years ago, a Japan Railway maglev train achieved a top spot of 603km/hour on an experimental track in Yamanashi and set a new world record.

Now the country is building a new Chuo Shinkansen maglev line between Tokyo and Nagoya, with trains set to hit top speeds of about 500 kph, is scheduled to be completed in 2027.

This new prototype has entered into the regional fight for the high-speed train of China.