China nod to single 'maglev' rail line
China gave one green light and one red light yesterday to the cutting-edge technology for trains that levitate on magnetic tracks, when the government issued the go-ahead for two new high-speed lines.
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The government's planning body said the State Council, China's cabinet, had given its approval to the project to build a new magnetic levitation, or maglev, train line between Shanghai and Hangzhou, a thriving commercial and tourist city 200km to its south-west.
However, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the planning body, said a new high-speed line between Beijing and Shanghai would use conventional wheel technology, in spite of a proposal to build another maglev line between China's two most important cities.
The plans for these high-speed lines, which have been discussed for a number of years, have set off a flurry of lobbying by the German consortium that pioneered the maglev technology, the French makers of TGV trains and Japanese bullet train technology.
The investments are part of an enormous planned expansion in China's rail network, including 5,400km of new high-speed lines in the next four years.
Shanghai already has the only commercially operating maglev train in the world, a 31km line to the city's international airport developed by Transrapid, a consortium that includes Siemens and ThyssenKrupp. With a maximum speed of 430km an hour, the service has become a tourist attraction.
However, with the only station far from the city centre and continual questions about the high investment costs, the project has remained controversial.
In a one-line statement on its website, the NDRC said the State Council had approved the new line to Hangzhou but gave nofurther details on cost, timing or the equipment suppliers.
Over the past week, the official Xinhua news agency has quoted officials saying the project would begin construction this year and would cost Rmb35bn (￡2.5bn). The new line is likely to cut the two-hour journey to Hangzhou to as little as 30 minutes. It is like-ly to be ready for the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai.
German ministers have said recently they believe the Transrapid technology will be used for the new line. However, local papers have suggested the government may opt for a system developed by Chengdu Aircraft Industrial Group, a Chinese company.
中国政府批准沪杭磁悬浮铁路修建计划
中国政府昨天批准修建两条新的高速铁路，允许其中一条使用最先进的磁悬浮技术，但不同意另一条也使用该技术。
中国政府的计划机构表示，中国国务院已批准在上海和杭州间修建一条新的磁悬浮铁路。杭州位于上海西南200公里处，是一座繁荣的商业和旅游城市。
但中国计划机构国家发改委(NDRC)表示，北京和上海间的高速铁路将使用传统轮轨技术，尽管有人提议在中国最重要的这两座城市之间另修一条磁悬浮铁路。
这些已讨论多年的高速铁路计划，引起了率先使用磁浮技术的德国财团、法国高速列车(TGV)制造商和日本新干线技术的一系列游说。
这些投资是中国铁路网大规模扩建计划的一部分，其中包括未来4年内修建5400公里新高速铁路。
上海已拥有世界上唯一一条商业化运营的磁浮线，该线全长31公里，终点为浦东国际机场，由德国磁悬浮高速列车国际公司(Transrapid)财团开发，该财团包括西门子(Siemens)和蒂森克虏伯(ThyssenKrupp)。
这一铁路服务最高时速达430公里，已成为上海旅游景点之一。
然而，它唯一的一座车站远离市中心，且高昂的投资成本不断遭到质疑，因而该项目依然存在争议。
中国国家发改委在其网站上发表了一则只有一行字的声明，表示新建沪杭磁悬浮交通项目建议书已经国务院批准，但没有给出有关成本、时间安排或设备提供商的详细信息。
过去一周里，官方的新华社援引官员讲话称，该项目将于今年开工，成本为350亿元人民币(合43亿美元)。新磁浮线可能把目前上海至杭州两小时的旅程缩短至30分钟，并预计将赶在2010年上海世博会前竣工。
