Cities May Develop Magnetic Levitation RailwaysBeijing and Shanghai will run tests on the feasibility of constructing magnetic levitation (maglev) railways as a way to improve traffic in the cities, as is reported by China Daily.If the tests are done, approved, and construction begins on time, Beijing will be the first city in China to have a high-tech railway by 2002, the 2.6-kilometre-long maglev will be built in the Badaling Section of the Great Wall in northwestern suburban Beijing. Shanghai is looking at building a 35-kilometre-long maglev route to run through downtown Shanghai that is believed to play a big role in the city's transportation system. The proposed maglev rail in Shanghai, which connects Pudong International Airport with Longyang Metro Station in Pudong was previously designed as 40 kilometres. It has been cut short to evade the densely-populated Lujiazui financial hub. The line is expected to start construction in the beginning of next year and will be completed in two years, said Xu Kuangdi, mayor of Shanghai. "It will be the first maglev line for commercial purposes in the world," Xu said. The line, each kilometre of which is estimated to cost about 150 million yuan (US$18 million), will take each passenger seven minutes and cost 50 yuan (US$6) for each single trip. German Trans-rapid International, the only manufacturer of maglevs, are negotiating the details of the project in Shanghai. Neighbouring cities such Suzhou of Jiangsu Province and Hangzhou of Zhejiang Province also, reportedly, hope to be a part of the line. Maglev in Badaling Beijing is building the maglev rails in order to attract tourists. The maglev route starts from Badaling parking place and ends at the foot of the Great Wall. Beijing Badaling Tourism Company and some local companies plan to invest US$23 million in the high-tech project. The project had been authorized by Beijing municipal government, and Hunan's Changsha-based University of National Defence Science and Technology is responsible for dealing with related technical issues. Professor Yin Limin with the university described the maglev railways as safe, comfortable, stable and fast. He said the maglev trains in Badaling will have 1-centimetre interval with magnetic rails. "The interval will make the maglev trains have no frictions with rails and thus produce no jolting and noises," Yin said. The Badaling maglev route will be built with dual lines, and the designing top speed is 70 kilometres an hour. With that speed, the routes, which are less than 3 kilometres will take passengers three minutes to complete a trip. Experts debate As more and more people become familiar with maglev, some experts are trying to find out whether the maglev railway is the country's best choice. Academician Qu Lijian from the Chinese Academy of Sciences insisted upon calling off the construction of the maglev railway, saying it would increase China's economic burden. "Expressway and wheeled railway could save a lot more than a maglev railway," Qu said, adding under the circumstances that China's economy is still at a low level, to adopt the immature maglev technology is very unwise. "Even in developed countries like Germany and Japan, less people are interested in the maglev railways," Qu said. But China's famous physical scientist He Zuoxiu is an unswerving supporter of the maglev project. From his point of view, the maglev railways' cost is just 85 per cent of the amount to build high-speed wheeled railways. He said that the two magnetic levitation projects in Shanghai and Beijing will help people better understand the huge benefits of maglev technology. |
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