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Shanghai welcomes high speed train
SHANGHAI, China (CNN) -- Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji and visiting German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder cut the ribbon to start the trial operation of Shanghai's glistening new maglev train Tuesday, state media reported. The 30-kilometer (18-mile) Transrapid Maglev Line, a high-speed transport system, links the downtown area with Shanghai's Pudong International Airport in just eight minutes. That compares with an hour for a trip by road. Shanghai's adoption of maglev is the first commercial application of the German technology, which uses electromagnetic levitation to whisk a train at speeds of up to 430 km/h (267 mph). The high speeds are possible because there is no friction. Rather than conventional steel wheels on rails, the maglev train glides just above the guide rails. Zhu, who took an early test ride on the train with Schroeder, called the maglev's inauguration "a major event in the history of Shanghai's urban development, as well as of China's railway transportation," Xinhua news agency reported. First trip
At 10:10 am Tuesday local time (12.10 am GMT), the train began its maiden trip from Shanghai's Long Yang Road station to Pudong airport and back, carrying passengers. The Transrapid reached 430 km/h, its planned operating speed when it begins scheduled operations in 2004. "We are quite confident that we will keep the deadline for completion and commissioning of the route", Siemens chief executive Dr Heinrich v. Pierer said in Shanghai. ThyssenKrupp chief executive Dr Ekkehard Schulz said he was certain that not only Germany, but many countries would follow the Chinese example. It has taken German and Chinese scientists and engineers two and a half years to complete the maglev line at a cost of about 10 billion yuan ($1.2 billion), according to Xinhua. The Transrapid consortium, which includes the German government as well as Siemens and ThyssenKrupp, is keen to win further projects in China for its maglev technology. Possibilities include a 200-kilometer (125-mile) line from Shanghai to Hangzhou, and a 1250-kilometer (775-mile) link between Shanghai and the Chinese capital, Beijing.
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