Drive Wire: The World’s Fastest Train
And you thought your supercar was fast?
Today in design we take a look at Shanghai-Hangzhou High-Speed Railway’s CRH380A. This aluminum-alloy bullet train takes land travel to a whole new level. Capable of traveling at 302mph, the CRH380A is the fastest form of land transportation currently available. Placed into service in October of 2010, the train has allowed people to get from Shanghai to Hangzhou in just 45 minutes. Due to the high cruising speed of the train, extra attention was directed toward advanced bogies to ensure little vibration would affect the cabin and its passengers. In addition, the train has an advanced traction control system that allows it to achieve 236mph in a mere 7 minutes. Once traveling at full speed, the train takes full advantage of its momentum and utilizes a regenerative braking system capable of giving back 800 kilowatts of power at each stop. This impressive piece of machinery is an engineering and design masterpiece that regularly—and reliably—reaches speeds that would make Lamborghini owners drool.
