The officials and representatives of three German manufacturers announced the start of the Shanghai Transrapid Maglev Demonstration Line during the ceremony at Huanglou Township in Pudong.

The township is where the first step in the 8.9 billion yuan (US$1.07 billion) project will be taken - the building of a 500,000-square-meter hybrid girder factory that will turn out more than 1,000 25-meter-long girders for the train's tracks.

Construction of the 100 million yuan factory will be finished next month.

Although the project will be completed by the end of 2002, it will take a year of testing before it is finally put into commercial operation.

"One year of test running is enough, and we feel confident about our ability to successfully build the world's first commercial line," said Sun Jinke, general project manager, who is also general director of project management for the Shanghai Research Institute of Building Science.

Although the maglev train's top speed will be 430 kilometers per hour - faster than an airliner's speed when taking off - "It should be regarded as a kind of safe aircraft, not a common train," Sun said.

It will take only 8 minutes to go the 30 kilometers from Pudong International Airport to the Longyang Road Station of the Metro Line 2, he added.

The estimated average cost of 280 million yuan per kilometer for the maglev line, officials said, is lower than the 370 million yuan per kilometer of the first phase Pearl Line light rail, which opened at the end of last year.

Nevertheless, the project will prove a financial boom for many local companies.

The line will be built by eight local state-owned companies which established the Shanghai Maglev Transportation Development Co Ltd last August with a total investment of 3 billion yuan. They include Shanghai Shengtong Holding Co., Ltd., Shanghai International Group Corp., Ltd. and Shanghai Automotive Industry (Group) Co., Ltd.

Wu Xiangming, president of the joint-venture, said, "A network of maglev lines around Shanghai in the future will greatly enhance the status of the city as China's financial center."

Shanghai Construction Group already has joined hands with Yangmahe Girder Manufacturing Co to make the girders.

Shanghai-based Baoshan Iron & Steel Co Ltd and its counterparts throughout China are competing for the right to provide the steel.

Three German companies - Siemens AG, Thyssen Transrapid System GmbH and Transrapid International GmbH - have contracted to provide energy-providing and control facilities, as well as three trains. The total cost will be 1.29 billion Deutsche mark (US$600 million).

The German government donated 100 million Deutsche marks to the project in January.

Construction is already under way on a road which will parallel the line. It will be used for trucks carrying girders and cranes.

As many as 960 families and more than 100 factories will have to be relocated to make room for the project.

When asked why Shanghai will be the first in China to have the maglev line, Sun said: "A maglev line built here can be more profitable because of the potential users."

He said potential passengers include the millions of travelers who pass through Shanghai's two airports every year.

Not everyone, however, is looking forward to the high-speed line.

"The maglev trains are not compatible with wheel-track lines, and there are 180,000 kilometers of wheel-track lines around the country that form the major means of passenger transportation," said Xu Zhenghe, an engineer who specializes in railways.

"Also, the loud noise the train makes when running at a speed of 430 kilometers per hour is another point that can not be ignored," Xu said.

(eastday.com 03/02/2001)