Japan hopeful of winning rail contract

The
Japanese transport minister Chikage Ogi said she planned to visit China soon to pro-mote
the Shinkonsen bullet train for the planned high-speed railway line between Beijing and
Shanghai. Japan is competing with consortiums from Germany and France to build a fast
connection between China's two leaden cities
According to a report by APP, China
is '90 per cent certain' to choose the Japanese technology for a contract worth an
estimated US$1 2bn. Later, Japanese press reports quoted Wu Bangguo, chairman of the
Sational People's Congress. as saying that the Ger-man consortium now preferred to
build a conventional rail system in China, rather than one based on magnetic
levitation.
East Japan Railway said it would offer China its technological support so
long as the entire system was chosen, including train cars and railway signals. so as to
fully demonstrate the 'excellence' of the system.