German president takes Shanghai's maglev line
( 2003-09-15 16:56) (Agencies)
German President Johannes Rau on Monday took a shortcut to Shanghai's Pudong
International Airport at the end of his visit to the metropolis.
"I've spent too much time on planes. Now I really want to see how it feels on
a maglev train," the president told students of prestigious Fudan University in
Shaghai.
President Rau boarded the train at 9 a.m. and was soon traveling at 430
kilometers per hour, or 119 meters per second, prompting a round of applause
from the German head of state and other guests.
Eight minutes later, it pulled into airport at the end of a 30- km
journey.
The train has been on trial since its completion on Dec. 31, 2002.
The 10-billion-yuan (about 1.2-billion-US-dollar) project, in which
state-of-the-art German technologies were imported and utilized, is the world's
first commercial magnetic levitation.
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