Homo sapiens

Due to distance issues.

The Equatorial Stratospheric Railway across the Pacific was not included in the first phase of construction.

The first phase of construction projects is the Southeast Asian Equatorial Stratospheric Railway, the South American Equatorial Stratospheric Railway, and the African Equatorial Stratospheric Railway.

At present, the first phase of the Southeast Asia Equatorial Stratospheric Railway has been completed.

The South American Equatorial Stratospheric Railway is 73% complete, and the African Equatorial Stratospheric Railway is 55% complete. Both parts are expected to be completed by the end of this year.

The construction of the second phase of the Ceylon Ocean Equatorial Stratosphere Railway will begin next year, the third phase of the Atlantic Equatorial Stratosphere Regulations will be carried out the year after that, and the fourth phase of the Pacific Equatorial Stratosphere Railway will be carried out the year after that.

After the completion of the fourth phase of the project, the entire circum-equator 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 was held on the north side of Pontianak City 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 height is 100 meters and there is a large platform above.

Liu Zhifan was on the platform at this time.

"I announce! The Southeast Asia Equatorial Stratosphere Railway is officially put into use today!"

Bang bang bang! All the construction workers quickly applauded.

Whether they were reporters from Homo Sapiens Company or reporters 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 an elevator, and similarly, a cable on the other side lowered a container from the stratosphere.

This kind of counterweight elevator is the core means of loading and unloading goods at the station.

The container that is put down will be slightly heavier than the container that goes up. In this way, 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 based on 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 due to its proximity to the coastal area. Therefore, 20 cargo lift lines and 6 passenger lift lines have been set up.

Liu Zhifan briefly answered some reporters' questions, then took the passenger elevator to the stratosphere platform of Pontianak Station.

Twenty thousand meters in the air.

Chief Engineer Asofang said on the side: "Currently, the Southeast Asia Equatorial Stratospheric Railway has a total of 9 stations with a total length of 5,319 kilometers."

Liu Zhifan looked at the cumulonimbus clouds outside the window: "Can the operating speed meet expectations? How safe is the lift?"

"Currently, the fastest operating speed can reach 2,400 kilometers per hour, but considering the need to stand still, it can only operate at a speed of 1,200 kilometers per hour." Asofang paused for a moment and continued:

"The safety of elevators mainly depends on the frequent rainfall and lightning in the equatorial region, as well as typhoons. Thunder and lightning can be avoided through lightning devices and Faraday cages; in terms of storms, the main thing is to beware of strong winds above level 10."

After a while, the passenger elevator carried the group of people to 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 ultraviolet rays are extremely strong.

Even the bodies of new humans may be injured in this environment.

Although Liu Zhifan is promoting this project, this is his first on-site inspection of the Stratospheric Railway.

I saw the Stratospheric Railway outside the window. There were 12 railway lines in total, each of which was recessed into the floating platform.

Asuo explained to him: "Minister, this is a superconducting magnetic levitation track."

"Superconducting?"

"Silver-based superconductors are used as track materials. The temperature at an altitude of 20,000 meters is generally lower than minus 50 degrees Celsius. Silver-based superconductors can directly achieve superconductivity without additional refrigeration."

Liu Zhifan suddenly realized: "That's it."

Asofang pointed to the sunken track again: "The reason why the track is designed like this is mainly to strengthen the restraint. Even if it suddenly loses control, the train cannot derail."

At this moment, a train quickly passed by.

Yin Tianfeng, the person in charge of the Stratosphere Railway Operating Company, whispered to Liu Zhifan: "Minister, this is coming from Bukit Station on Sumatra Island. The distance is about a thousand kilometers and it took less than an hour."

"This speed is still too slow." Liu Zhifan was a little dissatisfied.

Asofan quickly explained: "Minister, this is because the Circum-Equator Stratospheric Railway has not yet been fully opened. Once the entire line is opened, it will be able to use the top speed of 2,400 kilometers per hour across the Pacific, Ceylon Ocean, and Atlantic Ocean."

Of course Liu Zhifan is very clear about this.

The reason why the speed of the stratospheric railway cannot be increased now is very simple. It is because there are too many stopping stations on land, which slows down the overall operating speed.

The Pacific Ocean, Ceylon Ocean and Atlantic Ocean have only a few small stops along the way. In this plan, there are often no stops. 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, if the train is running at high speed, will it produce a supersonic sonic boom?"

Asofang nodded: "Sonic booms will indeed occur, but due to the thin air in the stratosphere, the sonic booms 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: "Does solar power be used here?"

"This is actually specially designed for future considerations."

“Designing for the future?”

Asofang nodded: "Yes, it is designed for the future. Once the Equatorial Stratospheric Railway is completed in the future, half of the entire line will receive solar energy. This is a fixed power station."

Then he added: "The silver-based superconductor on the railway can be used as a transmission line to realize the transmission of current with ultra-low loss."

Liu Zhifan understood it as soon as he heard it.

After all, half of the Equator Railway is always directly illuminated by the sun. This is the real sun that never sets.

In this way, solar power generation is no longer useless. Coupled with high-temperature silver-based superconductors, this turns the equatorial stratospheric railway into a huge solar power station, and the power generation is very stable.

After all, there is no shielding in the stratosphere and it is directly exposed to the sun for a long time. This power generation is definitely not a small amount.

In this way, the equatorial stratospheric railway can be completely self-sufficient in electricity, and even have a lot of wealth.

Simply kill two birds with one stone.

Liu Zhifan turned to Yin Tianfeng and asked: "Tianfeng, next you must cooperate with various ground transportation systems to ensure smooth flow of logistics."

"Yes, I will definitely make arrangements." Yin Tianfeng quickly replied.

After spending more than half an hour on the stratosphere platform, Liu Zhifan was quite satisfied with the Equatorial Stratosphere Railway.

It can withstand trains carrying several thousand tons and run at high speeds above the stratosphere. The maximum speed is almost twice the speed of sound. This thing can completely replace many airplanes along the way.

After all, the speed of civil aviation aircraft usually does not exceed 900 kilometers per hour, and the load capacity is only a few dozen tons.

Facing the stratospheric railway, civil aviation passenger aircraft or transport aircraft, there are really not many advantages.

After Liu Zhifan inspected the project, he wrote a detailed report to Li Qingye.

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