Zhangjiajie and Shaoshan Maglev Lines

Zhangjiajie and Shaoshan Maglev Lines

The 10th largest province of China, Hunan, is determined to make this decade a breakthrough for the maglev technology. It's ambitious plans of eight maglev lines, with a total length of more than 1,000 km (621 miles) including the extension of the already existing Changsha Maglev Express. The second iteration of the medium-speed maglev model by Hunan Maglev Transportation Development Co. will have an increased speed of 160 km/h (99 mph) and the third is aimed to have a top speed of 200 km/h (124 mph).

Zhangjiajie Tourism Maglev Line

The tourism maglev line in Zhangjiajie is going to be constructed in two phases. The first phase will start from Tianmenshan Ropeway and end at the Wujiayu Station spreading 39.3 km (24.4 miles) wide and the investment is estimated at 9.108 billion CNY (1.31 billion USD). The second and final phase will be expended until the Grand Canyon Station adding another 21.7 km (13.5 miles) to the network length at the cost of 4.991 billion CNY (719.5 million USD). The total length will be 61.3 km (38.1 miles).

Zhangjiajie is home to the scenic mountain known from the Avatar movie called the Southern Sky Column that has been renamed to "Avatar Hallelujah Mountain" as a nice gesture. It is part of the majestic Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site, where the future maglev line will go through.

Avatar Hallelujah Mountain in the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park
Zhangjiajie Tourism Maglev Line

Shaoshan Maglev

Little do we know so far about the Shaoshan Maglev, but what we can gather from the video is that it is supposed to be yet another tourist line going through bridges with panoramic views on the way.