The world's first hydrogen air rail has been "test flighted" in Taiyuan

Rail Transit Exhibition News The world's first hydrogen energy air rail has been "test flight" in Taiyuan! A few days ago, a video of the Taiyuan Qingxu hydrogen energy air rail test run was swiped on the screen, as if flying at a low altitude, full of science fiction.

From the closure of the road at the end of August 2023 to the construction of the Qingquan Lake to East Lake air rail test line, to the start of trailers in November 2023, and then to the "take-off" test run in April this year, the Taiyuan Qingxu air rail can be said to have created the fastest speed of rail transit construction in the country.

It is reported that the air rail project of Qingxu Two Lakes Connection Test County has invested nearly 200 million yuan and used more than 3,000 tons of steel. The line starts from Qingquan Lake in Qingxu County in the east to Qingyuan Water City in the west, with a total length of 1,023 meters, can accommodate more than 200 people, and has a design speed of 30 kilometers per hour.

Although the Qingxu Air Rail consists of two carriages and can only carry 200 passengers, less than one-tenth of the subway, this is the second air rail line in China and the first air rail in the world to be powered by hydrogen energy.

"Upside-down subway"

There are more than two or three advantages

The air rail that can "fly in the air" is not just an "upside-down subway", but a new type of low-volume rail transit.

The full name of air rail is "air rail train", also known as "suspended monorail", is a standard of rail transit, in which the train is suspended under the single-type track to move the track into the air, instead of lifting the entire road surface into the air like the elevated light rail or ride-on monorail, so it overcomes the shortcomings of other rail transit systems and alleviates traffic problems without expanding the existing road facilities in the city.

In terms of cost, the cost of air rail is lower than that of subway and light rail, and the cost is about one-third of that of subway. For example, the subway or light rail involves a large number of demolition problems, the hidden costs are relatively high, and the construction time is also long. The empty rail occupies a small area, the construction cost is low, the construction method is simple, some people joke that "it is to thicken the light pole on the road", generally each construction can be completed in a few days, and the whole line can be assembled in just a few months.

Because it is a fully enclosed electric drive, there is no noise and pollution, so it is not affected by bad weather, and it can still run in heavy snow, freezing and other weather.

The train hangs in the air

Many people have a question: will such a heavy train fall down if there is a disturbance in the air?

This worry is completely unnecessary! Air rail technology has been developed in Germany since 1901 and has a history of more than 100 years, and the reason why the train will not fall off is its unique design and technical characteristics.

First of all, the track girders of the air rail train are fully capable of bearing the weight of the train.

Secondly, the train is in contact with the track through the guide wheel and the walking wheel on the bogie, the walking wheel provides power, and the guide wheel is located on both sides of the track to cushion the lateral impact and provide centripetal force, so that the design can avoid the train derailment. With the development of technology, trains are suspended by electromagnetic or magnetic forces, which reduces friction and improves operating efficiency.

In addition, the train's braking system is highly advanced and is able to support short departure clearances, further enhancing safety.

Hydrogen energy to the empty rail

Compared with the construction of subways, the investment of 1 billion yuan per kilometer, the long construction period and the high cost of operation and maintenance, the air rail requires resources from the three-dimensional space of the city, which has the advantages of small investment and short construction period. Moreover, its operation and maintenance cost is low, which is more suitable for economically underdeveloped cities in the northern interior, such as Taiyuan.

When hydrogen energy meets empty rails, what kind of sparks will be created?

Air rail is an ecological, environmentally friendly, green and low-carbon urban rail transit system. Hydrogen energy is a clean, low-carbon, flexible, efficient, widely sourced and multi-used form of energy. The switch to hydrogen energy for the air rail, which originally relied on the operation of the power grid system, is undoubtedly a pair of "green wings".

China Railway Science and Industry and Meijin Hydrogen Energy established a hydrogen energy air rail R&D center, improved Meijin's mature hydrogen energy power system and developed a power module that can adapt to air rail trains, and plugged in the "wings" of hydrogen energy to the air rail transportation system that relies on the power grid system in the traditional sense, got rid of the constraints of region, space and power supply, and achieved more environmentally friendly, cheap and efficient operation.

Qingxu empty rail to Shanxi

The Qingquan Lake to East Lake air rail is not the only light rail in Qingxu.

In August 2023, in the relevant meeting held in Qingxu County, it was emphasized that "it is necessary to play a good annual series of combination boxing with high standards", which is the combination of "three openings, three meetings, two tracks and two sections".

After the successful operation of the two lakes connection pilot line, Qingxu County will launch the Gengyang West Street operation line project in a timely manner, from Shanxi Provincial Acupuncture Hospital to Meijin Zero Carbon Base via Qingyuan Water City, with a total length of about 7 kilometers.

Relying on the air rail, Qingxu will also build an air rail industrial park, which will drive the integrated development of new materials, new energy and other industries, and promote the gathering of tens of billions of "new infrastructure" new rail transit industrial clusters.

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