China Abandons Long-Distance Maglev Effort

Ralph Lee writes "China has chosen to abandon its Maglev train effort from Beijing-Shanghai, according to this AP story: 'Besides cost, "the maglev technique was excluded because it does not match the wheel-track technique used by railways in China," the report said, citing Wang Derong, vice-chairman of the China Transport Association.... The scrapping of the 9-year-old maglev project - two weeks after the country's first maglev, a short stretch in Shanghai, began regular operation - represents a setback for the development of the technology in China, which many had seen as one of its key markets.'" The short 18-mile MagLev run mentioned earlier remains in operation, but China is not going to use magnetic levitation for the planned 750-mile Beijing-Shanghai link.

Comments

China is big on scientific discoveries

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

"the maglev technique was excluded because it does not match the wheel-track technique used by railways in China,"

NEWSFLASH: Chinese researchers have discovered magnetic trains could not use a standard rail track.