Chapter 542 Phase I Completion
Because of distance issues.
The trans-Pacific equatorial stratospheric railway was not included in the first phase of construction.
The first phase of construction projects includes the Southeast Asian Equatorial Stratospheric Railway, the South American Equatorial Stratospheric Railway, and the African Equatorial Stratospheric Railway.
Currently, the first phase of the Southeast Asian Equatorial Stratospheric Railway project has been completed .
The South American equatorial stratospheric railway is 73% completed, and the African equatorial stratospheric railway is 55% completed. These two parts are expected to be completed by the end of this year.
The second phase of the Ceylon Ocean Equatorial Stratospheric Railway will be laid next year, followed by the third phase of the Atlantic Equatorial Stratospheric Railway the year after, and the fourth phase of the Pacific Equatorial Stratospheric Railway the year after that.
After the completion of the fourth phase of the project, the entire circum-equatorial stratospheric railway will be fully connected.
Liu Zhifan, who was at the Southeast Asia headquarters, attended the project completion ribbon-cutting ceremony on behalf of Li Qingye.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony took place on the north side of Pontianak in Borneo, which is right on the equator.
The ground part of Pontianak Station is a huge building complex covering an area of 9 square kilometers. The building is 100 meters high and has a large platform on top.
Liu Zhifan was on the platform at this time.
"I declare! The Southeast Asian Equatorial Stratospheric Railway is officially put into use today!"
Clap, clap, clap! The construction workers quickly applauded.
Whether it was the reporters from Zhiren Company or those from other forces, they were all concentrating on taking photos and videos, or editing press releases on their mobile phones.
Liu Zhifan cut the ribbon with scissors.
On the platform behind him, a container was pulled up by the elevator, and similarly, the cable on the other side lowered a container from the stratosphere.
This counterweight elevator is the core means of loading and unloading goods at the station.
The container that is lowered will be slightly heavier than the container that is put up, so gravity can be used to pull the lighter container up, thereby reducing energy consumption.
Of course, the station has an active lifting system and a dedicated passenger line.
Normally, the number of elevator lines can be appropriately set according to the cargo throughput and passenger scale of the local station.
For example, the Pontianak Station in front of us will become a core station in the future because it is close to the coastal area, so it has 20 freight lifts and 6 passenger lifts.
Liu Zhifan briefly answered some questions from reporters and then took the passenger elevator to the Stratosphere Platform at Pontianak Station.
At an altitude of 20,000 meters.
Chief Engineer Asofang introduced: "Currently, there are 9 stations in the Southeast Asian Equatorial Stratospheric Railway, with a total length of 5,319 kilometers."
Liu Zhifan looked at the cumulonimbus clouds outside the window and asked: "Can the operating speed meet expectations? How safe is the elevator?"
"The current fastest speed can reach 2,400 kilometers per hour, but considering the need to stop at a station, it can only run at a speed of 1,200 kilometers per hour." Asofang paused for a moment and continued to introduce:
"The safety of the elevator is mainly due to the frequent rainfall and lightning in the equatorial region, as well as typhoons. Lightning can be avoided by lightning induction devices and Faraday cages. As for storms, the main thing is to beware of strong winds above level 10."
After a while, the passenger elevator carrying a group of people arrived at the stratosphere platform.
The passenger area is completely sealed. After all, this is the stratosphere at an altitude of 20,000 meters. Not only is the air thin, the temperature is also very low, and the ultraviolet rays are extremely strong.
Even the bodies of new humans could be injured in such an environment.
Although Liu Zhifan is promoting this project, this is his first time to visit the stratospheric railway in person.
I saw the stratospheric railway outside the window. There were a total of 12 railway lines, and each railway line was recessed into the floating platform.
Aso explained to him: "Minister, this is a superconducting magnetic levitation track."
"Superconducting?"
"Silver-based superconductors are used as the material for the track. The temperature at an altitude of 20,000 meters is generally below minus 50 degrees Celsius. Silver-based superconductors do not require additional refrigeration and can directly achieve superconductivity."
Liu Zhifan suddenly realized: "So that's it."
Asofang pointed at the sunken track and said, "The reason why the track is designed like this is mainly to strengthen the restraint. Even if there is a sudden loss of control, the train will not derail."
At this moment, a train sped past us.
Yin Tianfeng, the head of the Stratosphere Railway Operation Company, whispered to Liu Zhifan, "Minister, this is from Bukit Station in Sumatra. The distance is about 1,000 kilometers, and it took less than an hour."
"This speed is still too slow." Liu Zhifan was a little dissatisfied.
Asofang quickly explained: "Minister, this is because the circum-equatorial stratospheric railway has not yet been fully opened. Once the entire line is opened, it will cross the Pacific Ocean, the Ceylon Ocean, and the Atlantic Ocean, and can reach a maximum speed of 2,400 kilometers per hour."
Liu Zhifan was of course very clear about this.
The reason why the speed of the stratospheric railway cannot be increased is very simple, because there are too many stops on land, which slows down the overall operating speed.
There are only a few small stations along the way in the Pacific Ocean, Ceylon Ocean and Atlantic Ocean . According to this plan, there is often no stopping and the whole journey can be carried out at full speed, and the speed can naturally soar to 2,400 kilometers per hour.
"By the way, Chief Engineer Asofang, when a train runs at high speed, will it produce a supersonic boom?"
Asofang nodded: "It is true that there will be a sonic boom, but because the air in the stratosphere is thin, the sonic boom will be very weak and will basically not affect the ground."
Liu Zhifan saw the large area of solar panels on the floating platform again: "Is solar power used here?"
"This is actually designed specifically for the future."
“Designed for the future?”
Asofang nodded: "Yes, it is designed for the future. Once the circum-equatorial stratospheric railway is completed, half of the entire line will be powered by solar energy. This is a fixed power station."
He then added: "The silver-based superconductors on the railway can be used as transmission lines to achieve the transmission of electric current with ultra-low loss."
Liu Zhifan understood as soon as he heard it.
After all, half of the area of the equatorial railway is always directly exposed to the sun, which is the real sun never sets.
In this way, solar power generation is no longer useless. Combined with high-temperature silver-based superconductors, the equatorial stratospheric railway becomes a huge solar power station with very stable power generation.
After all, there is no shielding in the stratosphere and it is exposed to direct sunlight for a long time, so the amount of electricity generated is definitely not small.
In this way, the Equatorial Stratospheric Railway can be completely self-sufficient in electricity, and even have a surplus.
It really kills two birds with one stone.
Liu Zhifan turned to Yin Tianfeng and asked, "Tianfeng, next you have to cooperate with the various ground transportation systems to ensure that logistics can be unimpeded."
"Yes, I will definitely arrange it." Yin Tianfeng replied quickly.
After staying on the stratospheric platform for more than half an hour, Liu Zhifan was quite satisfied with the Equatorial Stratospheric Railway.
A train that can carry a load of several thousand tons and run at high speed in the stratosphere, with the fastest speed being almost twice the speed of sound. This thing can completely replace many airplanes along the way.
After all, the speed of civil airliners usually does not exceed 900 kilometers per hour, and the load capacity is only a few dozen tons at most.
Compared with stratospheric railways, civil airliners or transport aircraft do not have much advantage.
After Liu Zhifan inspected the project, he wrote a detailed report to Li Qingye.
