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Shanghai-Hangzhou maglev railway
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-04-03 15:49
Construction work is expected to start by the end of this year on the maglev
railway between China's largest metropolis Shanghai and Hangzhou, a famous
tourist destination and capital of east China's Zhejiang Province.
The
feasibility study of the project which uses magnetically levitated or maglev
trains to whisk passengers to their destinations almost as fast as jet
aircraft, will be assessed in the near future, government sources in
Shanghai said on Thursday.
The principal of a magnet train is that floats
on a magnetic field and is propelled by a linear induction motor.Maglev trains
travel extremely fast because there is no friction.
With a total length
of 175 kilometers, the Shanghai-Hangzhou maglev railway is expected to go into
operation before 2010 when Shanghai will host the World Expo.
Total cost
of the project is estimated at 35 billion yuan (US$4.3 billion).
Trains
on the maglev railway will reach speed of 450 kilometers per hour, but will be
limited to under 200 kilometers per hour in the city downtown areas. It will
take passengers only 30 minutes to travel from Shanghai to Hangzhou. It
currently takes 140 minutes to travel between the cities by rail.
This
will be the second one if its kind in the country after the line in
Shanghai-based Pudong Airport.
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