Beijing will soon break the ground for the magnetic levitation train line reaching the Great Wall and expect to put it in service around the beginning of 2003, reported today's Beijing Morning Post.

The newspaper cited Beijing Holdings Co., the undertaker of the nation's first medium-low speed project of its kind, as saying that the main body of the project's trial line now built in Changsha, Hunan province, has been finished. And once it passes the tests, the Beijing maglev line will start construction.

An investment of 20 million yuan will be injected into the 2.1-kilometer long double-track project, the company said. The whole journey will take no more than 3 minutes. With each coach able to carry 100 passengers, the two trains are expected to transport at least 20,000 passengers each day.

(Eastday.com.cn 04/12/2001)