Dear MEL Topic Readers,
China debuts bullet train that can operate in extremely cold temperatures
China’s high-speed rail network, which stretches over 38,000 km at the end of 2020, is already the largest in the world and still growing. Some of the lines are operated at a speed of over 300 km per hour. Recently, the China Railway Beijing Group unveiled the latest train model that was designed to run as fast as 350 kilometers per hour in temperatures as low as -40 degrees Celsius. Why would they need such a high speed in such cold temperatures? Well, in major cities like Shenyang and Harbin in northeast China, low temperatures could go below -30 degrees Celsius. Imagine a train stopping at the station in those cities overnight in midwinter. Everything freezes inside and outside, even the lube. And when the train runs, the wind chill temperature of the surface could go much lower than that. Most of the parts need to be redesigned to run with passengers safely, just like a spacecraft. Indeed, nuts and bolts are essential under extreme conditions.
Enjoy reading the article and learn about the things needed to operate high-speed trains at minus 40 degrees temperature.
https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/china-bullet-train-cold-weather-fuxing/index.html
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