Chinese and German engineers are rushing to prepare the world's first commercial magnetic levitation train, capable of speeds of around 250 mph, for a debut run some time around New Year's Day.
The futuristic German-made "maglev" train has begun trial runs on its 19-mile-long track (30 km) in Shanghai, Shi Qiong, a spokeswoman for the Shanghai Maglev Transportation Corp, said Tuesday.
The $1 billion train connects the three-year-old Pudong International Airport with the city's new Pudong financial district. It would be able to cover the distance to the airport in seven minutes, compared to a half hour by taxi.
Maglev can attain speeds far faster than any conventional passenger train because it floats in the air, held inches above its rails by powerful magnets.
Other potential customers have been put off by maglev's high price and daunting technical challenges, but China's largest, richest city seems to hope that having the first will add to its image as a high-tech hub.
Critics say the project will never pay for itself, in part because customers will balk at its reported one-way ticket price of $6.25.
Shi and other officials refused to disclose details of the trial runs. But the Xinhua News Agency said the train had reached a speed of 250 mph (400 km) in a test run last week, nearing its design speed of 260 mph.
By contrast, bullet trains such as France's TGV, Germany's ICE and Japan's Shinkansen top speeds of about 160 mph (257 km).
Shi said last-minute adjustments are still being made to the track, built by Chinese contractors in just a year and a half. The exact date of the unveiling will depend on the tests now underway.
"Time is not the most important thing. We have to guarantee 100 percent safety and quality," Shi said.
The trial runs are being made with three trains delivered in August from Germany, where the technology was developed.
State planners will also be watching the train in considering whether to use the new technology in larger projects, such as a planned high-speed rail link between Shanghai and Beijing.
Source: agencies
People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn
All guideway girders for the world's first commercial maglev railway being built in Shanghai were put in place Thursday.
The 30-kilometer line between downtown Shanghai and Pudong International Airport takes 2,550 guideway girders, each weighing 190 tons and 24 meters long, according to sources with the Shanghai Maglev Transportation Development Co., Ltd.
The last guideway girder was hoisted and fixed on the track Thursday, eight months after the positioning of the first girder.
It will take only eight minutes to travel between the downtown area to the airport by the maglev train, which runs at a speed of more than 400 kilometers per hour. A test operation is scheduled for early next year.
The project, using German technology, will cost nearly 10 billion yuan (about 1.2 billion US dollars).
SHANGHAI-- Without media promotion, nor the noise usually associated with construction projects, the building of the world's first transrapid maglev railway line is progressing in China's largest commercial center, Shanghai. The line, which is to play an important role in the country's transportation, people's lives and the country's economic development, has been under construction for almost a year.
Near a subway station in an industrial area of the city, a giant building with a steel dome stands out. It is the start of a concrete elevated railroad which will extend 30 kilometers to the international airport in the Pudong New Area.
Xia Guozhong with Shanghai Maglev Transportation Development Co. Ltd. said that the construction of the railroad began in March last year, and already the railroad infrastructure, railway station, repair center and transformer substations have been completed.
More than 500 guideway girders, one-fifth of the total number required, and weighing an average 175 tons with a length of 24 meters, have been produced so far at the Shanghai-based guideway girders manufacture base.
Meanwhile, more than 5,400 tons of other equipment have been imported from several Germany-based companies.
However the smooth running construction project is seldom mentioned by local media. Xia explained that this is because the technology is being used for a commercial project for the first time, and many unexpected problems could occur during construction.
As a big project costing nearly 10 billion yuan (about 1.2 billion U.S. dollars), the project's success or failure will affect many economic and technological circles in both China and Germany, he noted.
The two parties have agreed to concentrate on work rather than words during the construction phase, which is to be fully completed in the early 2003, the expert said.
When completed it will only take eight minutes for passengers on the maglev line trains to travel the 30-kilometers between Pudong International Airport and the downtown area of the city, he said, adding that the highest speed will top 430 kilometers per hour.
The guideway girders base, which stretches 1,700 meters along the railway construction area, has set up an advanced production line consisting of a 40,000-square-meter placement workshop, a 100, 000-square-meter material ground and a 26,000-square-meter constant temperature workshop.
As a sign of the cooperation between China and Germany, the project is using a series of state-of-the-art technological developments and engineering designs, according to Yan Keming, deputy general director of the guideway girders manufacture base.
The guideway girders manufactured by Chinese technicians have been approved by German technologists and the manufacturing high- tech developments in the field have been given eight patents.
Hans Eichel, Germany's Finance Minister, visited the project construction area in January. He was optimistic about the successful Sino-German cooperation.
"As the first to introduce the maglev transportation technology into commercial service, China will make a contribution to the world's future market development in the sector of maglev transportation," the official said.
Heinrich V. Pierer, president of Germany-based Siemens Company, one of the project investors, said that the Germans as well as the Chinese are showing great interest in the maglev transportation project in Pudong.
Pierer keeps close contact with engineers in the project' construction area in Pudong wherever he is.
"Having problems with our cooperation is to be expected. We are ready to increase technological support, to send more technicians to the project, and to put every effort toward the project's final success," he said.
Chinese expert Yan Keming emphasized that the Sino-German cooperation in Pudong's maglev transportation project is of course a challenge for technologists and engineers from both countries.
Over 100 magnetic levitation (maglev) experts gathered Wednesday in Shanghai's tech-intensive Tongji University to discuss the feasibility and future of the maglev development in transportation.
Papers presented at the forum covered the latest research and progress in this field, and included papers on a German consortium 's contract project to build a high-tech magnetic levitation train in Shanghai.
Wu Xiangming, CEO of the Shanghai Maglev Transportation Company, described the transrapid route which will be about 30 kilometers long and will connect Pudong International Airport with the center of Shanghai in less than 10 minutes.
Maglev uses powerful magnets to hold a train a few millimeters above the track and propel it along with little noise or vibration. The trains can reach speeds of more than 400 kilometers per hour, as fast as a jet plane.
The partners in the consortium are engineering giants Siemens and ThyssenKrupp and train builder Adtranz, owned by DaimlerChrysler.
Germany has spent decades and billions of dollars in developing maglev, as has Japan. But the Shanghai project will be the first time the technology is put to commercial use.
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