Chinese engineers have developed a medium- to low-speed magnetic levitation train. The new 18-ton maglev train travels at speeds of up to 160 kilometers per hour and can hold 60 people.

The train, which measures 11.2 meters long, 2.6 meters wide and 3.3 meters high, successfully completed trial runs on April 30 in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province.

The test results show the country has mastered medium- to low-speed maglev train technology, said Zhang Kunlun, a professor at Chengdu's southwest Jiaotong University, one of China's top engineering schools. A research team at the university developed the new train.

(China Daily May 15, 2006)