"Wait, if the cost of the maglev track itself is only 400 million RMB, why did the final cost per kilometer increase to 800 million RMB?" A parent discovered a crucial point and asked curiously.
"The remaining four hundred million is for construction costs!" Elder Chen sighed, "Originally, according to our plan, except for necessary bridges and culverts, the maglev train should have been built entirely on the ground, like ordinary railways. But in the actual construction, we found that the entire maglev track must be elevated, at least five meters above the ground."
"Because Germany's maglev technology requires absolute ground stability, and there are strong electric currents around the railway. Anyone not wearing professional equipment who gets close and attempts to cross the track would be in extreme danger."
"Considering all these factors, the maglev train must be elevated more than five meters. If maglev trains are to be built nationwide, over 70% of the areas will require elevated construction."
"This means that while building the maglev trains, we also have to build supporting elevated bridges along the entire route. And building elevated bridges means another thing: land costs."
"Building new elevated structures will occupy a large amount of land. In rural areas, it's fine, but in cities, the land acquisition costs alone would be astronomical. Three hundred million of the initial 800 million cost was used for land acquisition."
In conclusion, track maglev is doomed to be eliminated. There will likely be only this one track maglev line in the country, and in the future, it will be more of a tourist attraction, a scenic project similar to a cable car, and will not be able to bear the main transportation tasks!
Elder Chen spoke eloquently, completely dismantling track maglev.
The parents present remained silent. In fact, everyone could see the situation. Back in 2001, the enthusiasm for track maglev in China was unprecedented. Everyone hoped to achieve a breakthrough with it.
When the track maglev was completed in 2003, 17 provincial capitals in China solemnly wrote in their urban development plans to build a province-wide track maglev transportation system within a certain number of years.
However, more than three years have passed, and there has been no news about track maglev in the country, nor any approval for a second track maglev to be built. Everyone had a vague feeling that this path might not work.
Of course, the vacuum high-speed train that suddenly appeared later was also considered a fleeting trend by them, even more unbelievable than high-speed railways.
Unexpectedly, in three years, they have managed to build 25 kilometers.
"Then, Elder Chen, according to you, the infrastructure cost of the vacuum track maglev will be much lower!" someone asked, "But when building the vacuum pipeline, doesn't it also need to be laid on the ground?"
"And it also needs to build bridges over water and dig tunnels through mountains. Isn't the cost not much lower than high-speed railways!"
"No, I can tell you very responsibly now that the infrastructure cost of vacuum high-speed pipelines will not only be cheaper than track maglev trains but also cheaper than high-speed trains, and even cheaper than our traditional green-skinned train tracks!" Elder Chen said loudly, which caused another wave of astonishment. Cheaper than traditional railways, how is this possible?
But Elder Chen continued, "Vacuum high-speed pipelines, although the name sounds very impressive, are essentially pipelines. Therefore, they can be buried underground according to the usage of pipelines!"
"After our redesign, our pipelines are very durable. We don't even need to place them directly on the ground. We just need to dig a pit deep in the ground, bury the pipes, and then backfill the soil, and they can be laid directly!"
"Except for some special terrains, we even plan to build all vacuum high-speed train stations underground, so that over 90% of the vacuum high-speed pipelines are buried underground."
"This can be done in both cities and rural areas. We don't need to dig too deep, about 10 meters in depth is enough."
"This depth is precisely in the middle layer of the urban pipeline system. Slightly above are sewage pipes, power grid pipes, and other pipelines. Below are the urban subway networks. Our vacuum high-speed pipelines can run between them. Because there is reinforcement both above and below, this position is actually very balanced and stable!"
"Therefore, although we still need to build bridges over water and dig tunnels through mountains, the bridges only need to be pipeline bridges, and the tunnels only need a small ordinary hole. The cost is less than 1/10 of that of train bridges and tunnels required for other trains!"
"And in other ground areas, the cost is less than 1/20, only requiring digging and backfilling. I even joked with our staff, saying that you can go to Lánxiǎ (a vocational school known for heavy machinery operation) and learn for a month, and then come back to bury pipes for us. You can bury one kilometer of pipe in a week. You are all road-building heroes!" Elder Chen said, clearly very proud at this point.
Of course, some people were still not convinced and questioned further, "But if you bury the tracks underground, won't they be subject to more erosion? First, there's erosion from groundwater, and then there are various stresses from geological layers. And if an earthquake occurs, won't it be even more dangerous?"
"That's a good question, but we have already considered such issues!" Elder Chen said, "First, it is true that the erosion received underground is much more than on the surface. That's why we designed such a strong vacuum tube with more than ten different structural layers, enough to resist any erosion from the natural environment that humans can imagine."
"By the way, although the natural erosion underground is much more than on the surface, the advantage of being underground is that the erosion from oxygen is reduced by tens of times, and oxygen is the fundamental cause of all erosion conditions."
"These erosions, to put it bluntly, are all redox reactions. If there's no oxygen, what's there to reduce!"
"According to our calculations, a vacuum high-speed pipeline produced according to our standards can withstand underground erosion for over a hundred years. Within a hundred years, there's no need to worry about the pipeline having problems due to erosion, which is something no railway track can achieve."
"Of course, threats like earthquakes, earthquakes below magnitude 6 basically pose no threat to our pipelines. Earthquakes above magnitude 6 are indeed very threatening. We are mainly afraid of plate movement and thrust, that is, earthquakes that can cause ground fissures."
"But let's not mention how infrequently earthquakes of this magnitude occur. Even if we do encounter one, then we encounter one, and we'll repair it later!"
"First of all, the material of our pipeline itself can fully withstand the impact of earthquakes below magnitude 12. However, for a pipeline hundreds of kilometers long, if it is subjected to such force simultaneously, it will definitely fracture in some places, which is unavoidable!"
"But the question is, what happens if the pipeline breaks underground?"
"First, if the pipeline is buried underground and even if it breaks, a large amount of air cannot enter in a short period. The inside of the pipeline can still maintain a vacuum state for a long time."
"It doesn't take long, just 10 seconds. The vacuum high-speed train can brake under the action of reverse magnetic force. It only takes 10 seconds from the start of braking to a complete stop."
"After 10 seconds, the train stops inside the pipeline. Unless it is so unlucky that it stops at the fracture points along the hundreds of kilometers of pipeline, it can still be well protected by the vacuum high-speed pipeline, absorbing all the force of earthquakes below magnitude 12, so that the vacuum high-speed train inside the pipeline suffers no damage."
"So the worst-case scenario is that the passengers in the train are trapped underground for a few days, waiting for our rescue team to dig open the ground and pull the train out from underground!"
"Speaking of pipeline fractures, if the problem of pipeline breakage occurs on the surface, it is indeed a big trouble. But if this problem occurs underground, it is very easy to solve!"
"If there is no earthquake, but the pipeline breaks due to other reasons, then all trains before the fracture can successfully reach the station. Trains after the fracture can all turn back to the nearest station, and the entire process can still run very smoothly."
"At the same time, the repair process is also very simple. Because each pipeline is fixed at a length of 200 meters, there will be a connection point every 200 meters. So, it only takes an emergency dispatch of more than a dozen excavators to dig open this 200-meter section. First, isolate the air at the connection point, then remove the broken pipeline, replace it with a brand new pipeline, reconnect it, evacuate the air, and the repair is complete."
"The entire process is very simple and can be completed within three days. Such an accident is expected to occur very rarely, perhaps less than once in three years. Therefore, once the vacuum high-speed pipeline is buried underground, even the maintenance is very convenient and labor-saving!"
"By the way, another advantage of burying it underground is that there are almost no issues with turns. All pipelines can be straight, and there's no need to artificially make a large detour to avoid a critical location."
"Finally, according to our calculations, the cost of building each kilometer of vacuum high-speed pipeline is about 170 million RMB, and it will not exceed this figure!" Elder Chen stated confidently.