China plans 'Doomsday trains' that could transport nuclear missiles around the country and even carry out launches which are hard to detect

 China could use high-speed 'doomsday trains' to transport and even launch nuclear missiles, a new report suggested.

In a government-funded study published yesterday, engineers looked at the logistics of moving Beijing's elite DF-41 nuclear-capable missiles onto the rail network.

The mega-missiles weigh 80 tonnes each and can carry nuclear warheads up to 9,300 miles from the launchpad.

DF-41 is said to boast the longest range of any nuclear-capable ballistic missile in the world

Beijing commissioned a new study into the logistics of carrying its elite weapons on trains=

China is said to have tested DF-41s from trains in 2015, but these reports remain unconfirmed.

The elite weapons, first revealed in 2019, are said to be the longest-range nuclear missiles on the planet. 

Carrying them on trains would improve 'concealment', the engineers said - and, if necessary, make launches more efficient.

As well as a quick and well-protected means of transport for China's missiles, the report continued, the shockwaves caused by a launch would be better absorbed by high-speed rail infrastructure.

Researchers wrote in the Journal of Southwest Jiaotong University: 'Compared with heavy-haul railways, high-speed railways operate faster and more smoothly. 

'This means that on high-speed rails, the mobility, safety and concealment of military vehicles would be greater.'

The group is led by civil engineering professor Yin Zihong, who is head of the Chinese government's national research project, according to the South China Morning Post.

In less than two decades, China has built the world's largest high-speed rail network 

Maglev trains have top speeds of 372mph - while missile-carrying locomotives can go 217mph

In less than twenty years, China has built by far the world's largest high-speed rail network - overtaking runners-up Spain and third-placed Japan.

These are 'favourable conditions' for the so-called doomsday trains, Yin and his colleagues added. 

The high-speed trains capable of carrying nuclear missiles have a top speed of 217mph, the report said.

And although they're unlikely to be able to carry missiles, Maglev trains capable of 372mph top speeds would be another asset in wartime. 

Yet though innovative, China's latest proposal doesn't come from nowhere. 

The Soviet Union experimented with nuclear weapons-carrying trains during the Cold War.

Twelve nuclear trains were stationed in the Kostroma, Perm and Krasnoyarsk regions, each carrying three missiles.

They came into service in 1987, just a few years before the collapse of the USSR, and were dubbed 'ghost trains.'

Russia's doomsday trains were finally disposed of between 2003 and 2005 - and, despite retesting in 2017, are not expected to return any time soon.