The speed of the train in the photo is overstated, its top speed is claimed to be 600 kph - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
September 20, 2021
A photo of a train is being widely shared through a post claiming it to be ‘China’s new 750 kph (573 mph) maglev passenger train’. The post even claims that it is now the fastest land vehicle on earth. Let us fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Photo of ‘China’s new 750 kph (573 mph) maglev passenger train’.
Fact: 573 miles per hour is approximately equal to 922 kilometres per hour, not ‘750 kph’ as stated in the post. The train in the photo is a maglev bullet train that can reach speeds of 600 kilometres per hour (373 miles per hour). In 2015, Japan had set a new world record when a Japanese maglev train had hit 603 kph on an experimental track in Yamanashi. However, the Chinese train is said to be the world’s fastest maglev transportation system to be rolled off the assembly line. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
573 miles per hour is approximately equal to 922 kilometres per hour (kph), not 750 kph as stated in the post. When we did a reverse image search on the photo, a CNN article with the same image was found. The article was published on 21 July 2021 with the title, “China debuts world’s fastest train.” The train was developed by the state-owned China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation that had made its debut in Qingdao, China. The maglev bullet train can reach speeds of 600 kilometres per hour (373 miles per hour). “’Maglev’ is an abbreviation of ‘magnetic levitation’. The train appears to be ‘floating’ thanks to an electromagnetic force that sends it gliding above the tracks.”
According to Reuters, at the speed (top speed of 600kph) of this train, it would take two and a half hours to go from Beijing to Shanghai, a journey of more than 1,000 km. The journey would take three hours by plane and five and a half hours by high-speed rail. While the planes fly at an average of 800-900 kph, high-speed trains run at about 350 kph in China. The pictures of the high-speed maglev train can be seen in the articles here and here.
In 2015, Japan had set a new world record when a Japanese maglev train had hit 603 kph on an experimental track in Yamanashi. However, according to this article, the Chinese train is said to be the world’s fastest maglev transportation system to be rolled off the assembly line. According to the Chinese Communist Party’s mouthpiece – Global Times – the construction of a 1,000 kph maglev train is about to start on a test line, in North China.
To sum it up, the speed of the train in the photo is overstated, its top speed is claimed to be 600 kph.