Low-speed maglev rail could connect port with Expo site
25/10/2005 8:47
Shanghai Daily news The city is considering plans to
build a low-speed magnetic levitation rail line linking an under-construction
deepwater port in Nanhui District with the site of the 2010 World Expo, an
official with Shanghai Maglev Transportation Development Company said
yesterday.
The company will begin by building a 1.5-kilometer-long pilot line
in the southwest of Coastal New Town, which is a part of Shanghai's Yangshan
Deepwater Port.
The pilot project is expected to cost 150 million yuan
(US$18.52 million) and the train can run to a top speed of 100 kilometers per
hour. Traditional light rail lines have a top speed of 80 kilometer an
hour.
"The new line will facilitate residents in the new coastal township who
travel to downtown," an official surnamed Chen with the company's business
operation department told Shanghai Daily yesterday.
He said the low-speed
maglev will cost far less to build per kilometer than the rapid maglev line that
serves the Pudong International Airport.
He said the low-speed line will cost
about 100 million yuan for each kilometer, about one-third the price of the
current maglev. He couldn't say how much a kilometer of traditional light rail
line costs to construct.
Chen said a test line is needed as the low-speed
maglev uses different technology than the existing line. He refused to say if
the new line will be completely Chinese built, or if engineers from Germany will
work on the project as they did on the existing maglev.
"The low-speed maglev
is an ideal choice to solve the city's inner-township traffic problems," said
Cai Yifeng, a city planner with the Shanghai Transportation Planning
Institute.
"It's possible that the city will plan more low-speed maglev lines
in the city's suburban districts," he said.
An area of 5.28 square kilometers
has been rounded up for construction of Expo pavilions between the Nanpu and
Lupu bridges, mostly in Pudong. The low-speed maglev technology is also being
developed by the United States and Japan.
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