W-OLF
03-13-2006, 03:32 PM
China Approves Two High-Speed Railways
BEIJING (AP) - China announced $22 billion plans Monday to build two new high-speed train lines linking Shanghai with Beijing and another city, including one using magnetic levitation technology that can reach speeds of 260 mph.
Both lines are among the world's most ambitious railway-building projects. They had been long-awaited by international suppliers of railway technology, but the announcements did not specify which companies would be involved in constructing them.
The 820-mile Beijing-Shanghai link will use trains with wheels that can travel up to 220 mph, according to an announcement by the Cabinet's National Reform and Development Commission, the government's top industrial planning agency.
The announcement did not say when the line would be built or give a cost. But the official Xinhua News Agency cited Railway Minister Liu Zhijun as putting the price last week at $17.5 billion.
Japan lobbied China to use its Shinkansen bullet train technology, France its TGV system and Germany its maglev technology.
But China says it wants to build the line with domestic technology adapted from that in use overseas.
The NDRC said the Beijing-Shanghai project should be built and operated by a corporation financed by Chinese and foreign investors.
Earlier estimates said the new line could cut rail travel time between the Chinese capital and Shanghai, the country's commercial hub, from 13 hours to just five.
The second project, a 110-mile maglev line from Shanghai to Hangzhou, is due to be completed by 2010 at a cost of $4.3 billion, Xinhua reported.
The world's only commercially operating maglev train, built with German technology, links Shanghai's main airport with its financial district. Maglev technology uses powerful magnets to suspend a train above a track and propel it at speeds of up to 260 mph.
Hangzhou is currently about two hours by train from Shanghai at the center of a growing high-technology corridor that is attracting foreign telecommunications and computer companies.
Quicker access by maglev could make the city more attractive to foreign companies by bringing it within easy reach of Shanghai's major international airport.
China has invested billions of dollars in expanding its railway network in an effort to ease congestion and promote economic growth in isolated areas.
The first railway to Tibet, built across permafrost on the lofty Tibetan plateau, is due to start operation this year.
Foreign suppliers of railway equipment have found only limited opportunities in China. The country manufactures most of its own equipment and exports locomotives and other gear to such low-income markets as Bangladesh.
The government plans to build more than 7,500 miles of high-speed railways in coming years at a cost of $250 billion-$310 billion, according to Xinhua.
credit BellSouth
BEIJING (AP) - China announced $22 billion plans Monday to build two new high-speed train lines linking Shanghai with Beijing and another city, including one using magnetic levitation technology that can reach speeds of 260 mph.
Both lines are among the world's most ambitious railway-building projects. They had been long-awaited by international suppliers of railway technology, but the announcements did not specify which companies would be involved in constructing them.
The 820-mile Beijing-Shanghai link will use trains with wheels that can travel up to 220 mph, according to an announcement by the Cabinet's National Reform and Development Commission, the government's top industrial planning agency.
The announcement did not say when the line would be built or give a cost. But the official Xinhua News Agency cited Railway Minister Liu Zhijun as putting the price last week at $17.5 billion.
Japan lobbied China to use its Shinkansen bullet train technology, France its TGV system and Germany its maglev technology.
But China says it wants to build the line with domestic technology adapted from that in use overseas.
The NDRC said the Beijing-Shanghai project should be built and operated by a corporation financed by Chinese and foreign investors.
Earlier estimates said the new line could cut rail travel time between the Chinese capital and Shanghai, the country's commercial hub, from 13 hours to just five.
The second project, a 110-mile maglev line from Shanghai to Hangzhou, is due to be completed by 2010 at a cost of $4.3 billion, Xinhua reported.
The world's only commercially operating maglev train, built with German technology, links Shanghai's main airport with its financial district. Maglev technology uses powerful magnets to suspend a train above a track and propel it at speeds of up to 260 mph.
Hangzhou is currently about two hours by train from Shanghai at the center of a growing high-technology corridor that is attracting foreign telecommunications and computer companies.
Quicker access by maglev could make the city more attractive to foreign companies by bringing it within easy reach of Shanghai's major international airport.
China has invested billions of dollars in expanding its railway network in an effort to ease congestion and promote economic growth in isolated areas.
The first railway to Tibet, built across permafrost on the lofty Tibetan plateau, is due to start operation this year.
Foreign suppliers of railway equipment have found only limited opportunities in China. The country manufactures most of its own equipment and exports locomotives and other gear to such low-income markets as Bangladesh.
The government plans to build more than 7,500 miles of high-speed railways in coming years at a cost of $250 billion-$310 billion, according to Xinhua.
credit BellSouth