| China maglev's safety system reliable, line expansion planned |
SHANGHAI, Sept. 25 (AP) -- Shanghai's high-speed magnetic train has safety systems that would prevent the type of crash that occurred Friday in Germany, a Chinese expert said Monday, noting that the city still plans to expand its maglev rail line.
The Shanghai maglev line has computerized systems that prevent two trains from being on one track at the same time and that automatically stop the train if there is an obstacle on its course, said Chang Wensen, a professor at the Maglev Research Center at the National University of Defense Technology in the central Chinese city of Changsha.
Chang said that Chinese experts were reassessing the maglev's safety following an Aug. 11 fire in an electrical storage compartment beneath the passenger cabin that created large amounts of smoke but caused no deaths or injuries.
Preliminary investigations attributed that mishap to an electrical fault.
"The accidents in Shanghai and Germany will have some impact but will not hinder the development of the maglev," Chang said.
Shanghai's German-built maglev line covers the 30 kilometers (19 miles) to the city's Pudong International Airport in just eight minutes at speeds of up to 430 kph (270 mph). Launched in early 2004, it is the world's only commercially operating magnetic levitation train line.
The maglev line is controlled by a central computer system, state media reports noted.
"Shanghai Maglev automatically stops if obstacles are on its course," the Shanghai Morning Post said in a report Monday that played down the possibility of any similar accidents here.
However, it did say the accident in Germany, which killed 23 people, was an "alert" for Shanghai.
German officials acknowledged Sunday that the test track where the train crashed was not equipped with the most up-to-date security system, noting such an accident "would never have happened" on tracks that were.
Shanghai plans to build a short extension of the line to site of the 2010 World Expo, along the banks of the city's Huangpu River, and Chinese officials are in negotiations with Germany about constructing a much longer maglev line to the nearby city of Hangzhou.
The immaculate train and its gleaming stations are a showcase project for China's biggest city. But the line, whose terminus is inconveniently located in an eastern suburb, is not particularly popular. Earlier this month the train's operator, Shanghai Maglev Transport Development Co., announced it was offering discount fares in a bid to boost the number of riders.
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