The Chinese government is demanding a 50 per cent cost reduction from the German consortium Transrapid International for the building of any future magnetic levitation railways in China. Insiders told the German newspaper that it would have to at least halve the cost per track kilometre if it were to stand a chance to win future orders.
The consortium, led by Siemens and ThyssenKrupp, is currently building its first China project, a 30km track from Shanghai’s Pudong airport to the nearest metro station at Longyang Road. It is due to be completed on December 31, when the country’s premier Zhu Rongji is scheduled to travel the route at a speed of 430km per hour on the train’s first ‘VIP trial run’.
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