Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji and visiting German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder cut the ribbon for the trial operation of Shanghai Transrapid Maglev Line, a high-speed transportation system.
Premier Zhu and Chancellor Schroeder are to take a train to the Shanghai Pudong International Airport, the terminal of the 30-km-long maglev line.
The Shanghai Transrapid Maglev Line is the world's first and only high-speed commercial commuting system using state-of-the-art electromagnetic levitation technology.
The maglev line links bustling Pudong Airport with the sprawling subway system in Shanghai's urban areas, cutting the traveling time span to downtown Shanghai from about an hour to just eight minutes.
(Xinhua News Agency December 31, 2002)
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