- German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Chinese Premier
Zhu Rongji opened the world's first commercial magnetic levitation train,
with both sides having much to gain from its success.
-
- The one billion dollar Transrapid magnetic suspension
railway linking the sprawling metropolis of Shanghai to its international
airport has been built and designed by German engineering giants Siemens
and ThyssenKrupp.
-
- Tuesday's inaugural return trip along the 30-kilometre
(19-mile) line, with Schroeder, Zhu and around 100 officials on board,
represents the first ever application of new "maglev" technology,
in which the train literally floats above the track.
-
- Held up by powerful magnets, it can travel at speeds
of over 430 kilometres per hour (260 miles per hour). The Xinhua news agency
said it successfully reached that maximum speed Tuesday, covering the distance
in eight minutes.
-
- With Germany pumping 200 million marks (102 million euros)
into the project, it is hopeful it will open the door for more German industry
in the Chinese market, German officials say.
-
- A German consortium is in the running for a contract
to build a similar high-speed railway line from Beijing and Shanghai. France's
TGV and Japan's Shenkansen are also vying for the lucrative deal.
-
- At an estimated cost of 100 billion yuan (12 billion
dollars), such a line would be a massive boon to the Transrapid train and
the sluggish German economy, analysts say.
-
- It would also provide a boost for Schroeder, who has
been roundly criticised for his management of the economy since his razor's
edge re-election in September.
-
- "This is the event of a century that we have a lot
of hopes riding on," said Transrapid International spokesman Peter
Wiegelmann.
-
- "We are aiming for more contracts in China after
a successful ride and new momentum to build German connections."
-
- Critics however say the maglev is too expensive and wastes
energy, pointing to high-speed trains already used in Japan and Europe
that can travel nearly as fast as maglev trains, but on standard tracks.
-
- Although it will be another 12 months before the Shanghai
link is fit to carry passengers, China is also keen to see it pass its
test Tuesday.
-
- On Sunday, Beijing announced ambitious plans to develop
more high-speed trains as it seeks to head off competition from air travel
and an increase in car ownership.
-
- Minister of Railways Fu Zhihua said China's railway industry
was facing a critical period for technical innovation, with an increasing
proportion of the transport market being shared by buses, airplanes and
other vehicles.
-
- Since 1997 train speeds have increased fourfold to meet
market needs in China. Currently, the speed of passenger trains has risen
25 percent over that in 1997, with some express trains running 140-160
kilometres per hour from 120 kilometres per hour.
-
- The sector hopes to develop a high-speed railway allowing
trains to run at speeds of over 300 kilometres per hour, and to have all
big cities and transport centres linked with high-speed trains in the first
20 years of this century.
-
- In addition, China will continue research on railway
construction for magnetic levitation trains, Fu said.
-
- Schroeder is on the last day of a three-day trip to China.
-
-
-
- Copyright © 2002 AFP. All rights reserved. All information
displayed in this section (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected
by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence
you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any
way commercially exploit any of the contents of this section without the
prior written consent of Agence France-Presses.
|
