Shanghai Deal Delayed

MAG LEV PRESS RELEASES

Shanghai Transrapid deal delayed to 2001 -official

BEIJING, Dec 15 (Reuters) - The signing of a contract between China and a German consortium to build a high-speed railway between Shanghai and its new airport has been delayed until next year, a Ministry of Railways spokesman said on Friday.

The Transrapid consortium originally said it hoped to sign a contract on Friday to build a 35-km (22-mile) magnetic levitation railway between central Shanghai and Pudong international airport.

Asked if the contract would be signed by the end of the year, China's Ministry of Railways spokesman Ren Xigui said: "It won't be that quick."

He declined to comment on the reason for the delay.

"We are trying to speed the process up," Ren told Reuters.

The Transrapid consortium groups ThyssenKrupp AG, Siemens AG and DaimlerChrysler's unit Adtranz.

Transrapid in November submitted its feasibility study for the project, which could be worth billions of dollars.

It had hoped to sign the contract with the Shanghai Maglev Transportation Co and begin construction on January 1, 2001, with the target completion date for the first of the two tracks being January 1, 2003.

The Transrapid train can reach a speed of 500 kph (310 mph), although on average it would travel at 430 kph (270 mph) to the airport and take less than seven minutes altogether.

As a sweetener, Germany will offer China aid in the form of loans and grants to help finance the Transrapid project, a German government source said earlier this month.

Shanghai Maglev Transportation has six major shareholders including Shanghai Transport Co, owned by the Shanghai government.

CHINA CONSIDERS NEW SHANGHAI-BEIJING LINK

Premier Zhu Rongji took a ride on the high-speed train in July, but said afterwards certain aspects still had to be worked out as he felt a little dizzy after the ride.

Zhu also signalled interest in Germany's new generation of Intercity Express 03 trains, which are being considered for a 1,000-km (620-mile) track between Beijing and Shanghai, a Siemens official said in July.

Ren told reporters at a briefing a pre-phase study for a high speed rail link between Beijing and Shanghai was under consideration.

"We hope to start this during the 10th five-year plan" between 2001 and 2005, he said. "The total investment will be around 100 billion yuan ($12 billion)."

The Japanese government intends to offer bullet train technology for the high-speed link, competing with German offers of magnetic levitation trains.

China is still considering which train to use for the link, Ren said.

"We shall adopt the mode that best suits the Chinese situation," he said.

($1-8.276 Yuan)

03:56 12-15-00

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