Recent reports suggest the central government has approved the new maglev line.

A company official named Liu acknowledged the company is doing a feasibility study on the new project, but declined to provide details on investment or route design.

According to City Lead News, a local Chinese newspaper, there are two preliminary construction plans for what could be the world's first city-to-city maglev line:

From Hangzhou via Longyang Road Metro Station to link the future site of the World Expo (between Nanpu and Lupu Bridge);

From Hangzhou via Pu-dong International Airport to connect to the city's outskirts.

"Although we have largely localized the German technology, we will face harsh competition in the world arena because long-distance maglev lines will need some new technologies," said Liu.

In previous briefings, Wu Xiangming, the Pudong line project chief, envisaged maglev lines around the Yangtze River Delta, adding that the Shanghai-Hangzhou maglev trip would only take half an hour.

It takes about two hours to reach Hangzhou, a top tourist city 200 kilometers away.

Meanwhile, though plans for an inter-city maglev service are under discussion, the company expects the Pudong line to open to regular traffic early next year. The line was opened for sightseeing early this year but it was stopped due to SARS, officials said.

"When the service reopens, each single trip will cost 75 yuan (US$9)," said Xu Juchuan of the company.

Currently, two trains are undergoing systematic tests on the line. When it opens for regular traffic, there will be three trains, each with five coaches imported from Germany.

It takes a maglev train only eight minutes to reach Pudong airport from Longyang Road Metro Station with a peak speed of 430 km per hour, compared to 30-40 minutes a taxi takes to cover the same 30-odd-km distance.

(eastday.com July 17, 2003)