Shanghai to Build Magnetic-levitation Rail

Shanghai to Build Magnetic-levitation Rail

Shanghai municipal officials say construction will begin soon after the Spring Festival holidays, which end next Tuesday, on a 33-kilometer high-speed rail line from downtown to Pudong International Airport that will be the world's first commercial application of magnetic-levitation technology. The showcase rail line -- using electromagnetic energy to levitate and move trains along a guideway -- is expected to be completed in 2003. It will allow trains that can travel as fast as 430 kilometers an hour to take only eight minutes to go from Metro Line 2 Longyang Station to the Pudong International Airport, officials said. "Shanghai is the testing ground for all high-tech things in China. This project will be completed no matter cost," vowed Shanghai Mayor Xu Kuangdi. The remarks by Xu and other city officials on Tuesday came after they signed a contract to have city government pay nearly 2 billion Deutsche Marks (US$964 million) to Germany's ThyssenKrupp AG and Siemens AG for the line's equipment, which the firms also agreed to service. ThyssenKrupp and Siemens -- shareholders in Transrapid International which will be handling the project -- will split the order about evenly, said Harmut Heine, chief of ThyssenKrupp's China operations. ThyssenKrupp will supply the rail cars. Siemens will provide the signal, control and propulsion systems. "After months of negotiations, we have finalized everything, but we have not fixed the color of the trains," said Hans Dieter Bott, vice president of Siemens' Transportation Systems Group. The design and manufacture of the rail tracks will be negotiated in a separate contract between a German designer and a Chinese partner, ThyssenKrupp's Heine said. City officials declined to disclose how much the construction of the maglev line would be financed. It is unclear if it would be done entirely by government or if private enterprises would be involved. Six local companies -- all government-funded -- have established Shanghai Magnetic Transportation Development Co., which will be in charge of the construction. The six are Shanghai Shentong Group Co. Ltd., Shenergy Group Co. Ltd., Shanghai International Group Co. Ltd., Baosteel Group, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. and Shanghai Electric Group Corp. The German newspaper Die Welt has reported that the German government offered China financial aid of between 500 million and 1 billion Deutsche Marks to boost the German companies' bids to win the contract. Mayor Xu said he is confident the project will proceed smoothly through the joint efforts of Shanghai and German interests. Transrapid International officials said discussions are under way about the possible construction of maglev systems between Shanghai and Hangzhou and between Shanghai and Beijing, as well as a demonstration link at the Beijing Airport.