China to create 'high-speed flying train' for Silk Road project
The China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) is said to be developing the world's first supersonic transport system, in what China's President Xi Jinping dubbed the "project of the century". The system, similar to Elon Musk's Hyperloop, would be constructed along the modern-day Silk Road, and CASIC said it already has more than 200 patents for the project.
China's aerospace agency is researching a "high-speed flying train" which will be able to reach top speeds of 2,485 mph (4,000 kmph) - more than three times the speed of sound.

The China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) is developing a transportation system similar to that of Elon Musk's futuristic Hyperloop system.

The Chinese agency says it owns over 200 patents for the project and plans in the future to export its hyperloop to countries along its touted modern-day Silk Road.

China's President Xi Jinping has said the country's multibillion dollar plan to build a modern-day Silk Road will be the "project of the century".

The country's existing high-speed rail network has received billions in investment in recent years, but CASIC's futuristic system will require even more.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 0:40 CASIC's planned 'supersonic flying train'

Most hyperloop systems use pods and magnetic levitation to transport passengers through a near-vaccuum tube at potentially supersonic speeds.

Passengers would be transported in a similar way to how discs move over air hockey tables; with exceptionally low friction.

As the pods near their destination, electromagnets would slow them down and the kinetic energy of the travelling pod would be absorbed back into the system.

CASIC said that its own version of the system will be the first in the world to hit supersonic speed, although no system has yet managed to breach the 767 mph (1,234 kmph) speed of sound.