Driverless trains that can run at 200 kph to make debut in China in 2020

Beijing, March 11: China is set to achieve yet another engineering marvel as a generation of faster driverless magnetic levitation trains is set to make debut on its soil next year, CNN cited the country's state media as saying.

The medium-low-speed maglev trains, built and developed independently by China's CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotives Co. Ltd, will be the country's third-generation ones and run at a speed of 200 kph, 40 kph faster than the 2.0 version and two times the speed of the 1.0 version. CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotives is a subsidiary of China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation, one of the world's largest train manufacturers.

When produced, the current trains will be the fastest commercial maglevs developed and built entirely by China-based firms.

The medium-low-speed maglevs are meant for improving intercity transport infrastructure unlike the high-speed ones that connect major cities. And they are safer and quieter, too, than traditional locomotives.

The new train will also possess a "powerful brain" than the ones earlier, enabling a safer autopilot operation, as per the company's chairman Zhou Qinghe, the report added.