High-speed Rail on Track
If an agreement signed in a Germany works out, travelers of this Asian city may one day be able to zip from the downtown area to its new airport on a train riding a stream of magnetic energy at speeds up to 500 kilometres per hour.
The 40-kilometers-trip ---now sometimes a long hour journey when the traffic is heavy-could be cut to less than 10 minutes.
Such are the goals of a costly project designed to help to "shorten" the distance between the city center and the suburban busy airport by making it easier and faster to carry travelers to and back from the airport.
The mayor of the city and Germany's Thyssen Krupp AG worked out an agreement in Berlin only several days ago that lays the groundwork for the magnetic levitation train line. They signed a commitment to carry out a feasibility study on the project and outlined the city's intention to import German technology. The project, once completed and acceptable to the two business parties, will be a double-win: the German company can benefit from exporting its technology and the city receiving German technology can improve its traffic and further strengthen its position as a cosmopolis.
Called Maglev for short, the system under discussion makes use of a high-speed train levitated above a guideway and propelled by magnetic fields. The project has been in the talking stage for several months.
Hans Ueberschaer, German's ambassador visited the city together with Harmut Heine, representative of Thyssen Krupp. They had an initial discussion with the mayor there about the prospect of the project. The talks were believed to be constructive and paved the way for the future talks in Berlin, where a commitment was reached.
Sources familiar with the talks estimated that the project would cost US$723 million, which would cover everything from land use fees and rail construction to train cars. Completion date is 2005. A joint venture company is to be established for the project.
