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    China Business
     Apr 4, 2006
Shanghai-Hangzhou maglev work to start in '06 

SHANGHAI - The Shanghai-Hangzhou maglev railway project has been approved by the State Council, China's cabinet, and will now enter a period where a feasibility study will be undertaken and participating companies and agencies will negotiation cooperation agreements. If conditions are ripe, construction work for the project will start by the end of 2006.

An official with the Shanghai municipal government said that the project will be put into operation in 2010, before the opening of the Shanghai World Expo. The 175 kilometer long maglev line will



require 35 billion yuan (US$4.36 billion) in investment. The normal running speed is fixed at 450 kilometers per hour, with the speed in downtown areas under 200 kilometers per hour.

Some weeks ago, a deputy to the Tenth National People's Congress (NPC) stated that construction of the route was designed to alleviate traffic pressure between Shanghai and Hangzhou during the World Expo. "The Shanghai-Hangzhou railway will in part use German technology, but the main technology comes from Chinese engineers," said the deputy, who was in Beijing to attend the annual NPC session.

He said relevant Chinese and German institutions are negotiating on technology transfer. The planned railway will allow maglev trains to run between Shanghai and Hangzhou to only half an hour. Six stations are planned on the route, including one near the shanghai Hongqiao airport.

Experts said if there are 70 million visits to the Shanghai World Expo as predicted, existing accommodation facilities would be unable to meet the demand. The planned maglev railway is expected to further beef up links between Shanghai and Hangzhou and help to tie together the booming Yangtze River Delta.

(Asia Pulse/XIC)

 

 
 



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