Chinese company unveils maglev train
17/1/2003 14:57
A company in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, has produced a magnetic
levitation train following a 22-year research and development program, announced
Hu Zhengmin yesterday.
President of Jiaoda Qingcheng Maglev Project Co,
Hu said the pilot train is undergoing final tests, and will be put on an
existing track in Qingcheng Mountain, Dujiangyan, Sichuan after the testing is
complete.
China Central Television's Channel 1 decided Tuesday to provide
live coverage of the train being put onto the track.
Once the line is in
operation, tickets will cost about 20 yuan (US$2.5), according to Hu. It's much
cheaper than Shanghai's Maglev, which is now in trial operation and will cost 50
yuan.
"Shanghai's train is much costlier than ours, because Shanghai
imported technology and equipment from Germany," said the president.
"The
train in Shanghai is a super-high-speed line, which is suited for inter-city
transport, while ours is slower and more suited to intra-city transport," Hu
added.
The cost to produce the Sichuan maglev line is 200 to 300 million
yuan per kilometer, and the cost of the pilot train is 10 million yuan. The
train cost should be 70 percent lower, around 3 million yuan, once the train is
in mass production, Hu noted.
The company is expecting a receptive
market, Hu said. Beijing has asked them to design a 20-kilometer line linking
Dongzhimen and the capital's international airport, for which it is considering
the company's maglev technology, he added.
Jane Chen / Shanghai Daily news
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