A carriage running in a high-temperature superconducting maglev vacuum tube [File Photo: Chengdu Economic Daily/Liu Haiyun]

A team from Southwest Jiaotong University in Sichuan's capital, Chengdu, is working on an ultra high-speed train that could theoretically run as fast as 1000km/h, reports China Central Television.

A team led by associate professor Deng Zigang has been carrying out tests on the world's first high-temperature superconducting maglev vacuum tube, which was built in 2014.

The 45-meter tube can currently run a carriage at 50km/h at 20 millimeters above the track.

Deng's team is competing against other developers from Japan and the United States to try to take the next step in the future of global rail transportation.