PRESS RELEASE

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China Decides To Build
a Second, Longer Maglev Rail Line

Aug. 18, 2008 (EIRNS)—After two years' debate, China plans to launch an extension Shanghai's revolutionary magnetic levitation train, with a new 200 kilometer project linking Shanghai to Hangzhou, the capital of East China's Zhejiang province. China remains alone, so far, among nations in building operating maglev lines.

The project appeared on a list of construction plans of the provincial government, the Shanghai Securities News reported this morning. The planned maglev line, with a total length of 199.4 km (125 miles), is longer than the 175 km originally intended. The Zhejiang part of the project, 103.6 km, will cost 22 billion yuan ($3.2 billion) and is scheduled to be constructed between 2010 and 2014, the report said.

The project, which will extend the existing 30 km maglev line linking Shanghai's Pudong International Airport and the city's financial district, has sparked worries over radiation among local residents. The authorities had suspended the extension, which was originally scheduled to be launched in 2007, and come into operation by 2010, when China's financial hub hosts the World Expo.

The new line will be the world's longest maglev line, then.