China’s super fast 600km/h maglev train performs its first test run

A prototype of China’s super fast floating train successfully completed a test run for the first time on Sunday, according to Shanghai’s Tongji University.

The magnetic-levitation (or maglev) train is designed to hit a speed of 600 kilometers per hour (around 372 miles per hour). That means it could carry passengers from Beijing to Shanghai in just 3.5 hours, according to state broadcaster CCTV, saving them two hours compared to traveling on existing high-speed trains.

Unlike conventional trains which run on steel wheels on metal tracks, maglev trains hover above the track and are propelled forward by powerful electromagnets. With nearly no friction, the train is able to move much faster than existing trains. But China’s 600km/h maglev train wouldn’t be the world’s fastest: That honor belongs to Japan. The country, which has been testing maglev technology for years, created a train that hit 603km/h on a test track in 2015.