中国计划建造时速4000公里的高速列车北京到武汉只需30分

　　Apparently not content with lumbering across the country at a mere 350 km/h, China is now working on developing technology that will boost its max speed all the way up to 4,000 km/h.

　　或许是不满足于目前时速为350公里的高铁，中国目前计划进一步提升技术，研发一种最高时速可达4000公里的高速飞行列车。

　　Earlier today, the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC), one of the nation’s major space contractors, announced that it had begun research and development into a new, futuristic type of transport which would operate via supersonic "near ground flight."

　　8月30日，国内主要的航天投资商——中国航天科工集团公司宣布将开始投入研发一种新型的未来式交通方式，这种交通方式是利用超音速原理，实现“近地面飞行”。

　　The system would presumably be similar to that of the Hyperloop, proposed earlier this decade by Elon Musk, in which capsules would fly at ultrafast speeds down reduced-pressure tubes, dramatically reducing travel times.

　　这种新式系统与超级高铁原理类似。超级高铁是由伊隆·马斯克在近几年提出的新型概念，即运输舱会在搭建的减压管道内以接近超音速的速度行驶，大大减少了旅程时间。

　　Of course, the CASIC isn’t looking to reach speeds of 4,000 km/h right away. The first stage of the company’s plan will be to create an intercity network of these "flying trains" operating at 1,000 km/h. In the second phase, this network would be extended and the max speed of the pods increased to 2,000 km/h. Finally, in the third stage, the speed would be boosted all the way up to 4,000 km/h -- five times the speed of civil aviation aircraft today.

　　当然，中国航天科工集团公司并不是要现在立马实现时速4000公里的速度。该公司计划在第一阶段通过1000公里/小时运输能力建设区域性城际飞行列车交通网，第二阶段通过2000公里/小时运输能力建设国家超级城市群飞行列车交通网;第三阶段将最终过渡到时速4000公里的速度，该速度将是民航飞机飞行速度的五倍。

　　Last year, China’s CRRC Crop, the world’s largest train manufacturer, started talking with Hyperloop Technologies Inc about opportunities for investment and collaboration, though nothing appears to have come from those talks so far. Earlier this year, another US startup began making noise with promises of its "hyper chariot system" which would be capable of achieving 4,000 mph in speed.

　　去年，世界上最大的火车制造商——中国中车股份有限公司开始着手和超级高铁技术公司就投资和合作事宜展开谈判，但目前为止似乎并无任何进展。今年年初，另一家美国公司又制造噱头并承诺将研发时速将达到4000英里的“超级战车系统”。

　　Meanwhile, we’re still waiting for that high-speed line between China and the US.

　　与此同时，我们也继续期待何时中国和美国之间的高铁线能够建成吧。