China’s first indigenously built Maglev train ready for launch
By IANSThursday, April 8, 2010
BEIJING - China’s first indigenously built high-speed Maglev (magnetic levitation) train was delivered to the authorities in Sichuan province Thursday, a media report said.
The train has a maximum speed of 500 km per hour and was built by Chengdu Aircraft Industrial Company, a subsidiary of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), China Daily reported on its website. It was built in the provincial capital of Chengdu.
The train was formally handed over to the Shanghai Maglev Transportation Development Company that ran the country’s first commercial Maglev train in Shanghai in 2002.
The high-speed Maglev train boasts some features of planes and is expected to be put into service during Shanghai Expo in May.
The train is energy-efficient. When running at a speed of 400 kmph, it consumes just half the energy of a sedan and a third of the energy of a plane, the report said.
