Hub right on track, now for the Maglev

IT'S all system go for Shanghai's new transport hub near Hongqiao International Airport, but an extended Maglev line remains the stumbling block, project officials said yesterday.

The hub, planned to the west of the airport, will include the terminal of the new Shanghai-Beijing high-speed rail link, at least two Metro stations and dozens of bus stops, they said.

However, the city government is still considering whether to extend the magnetic Maglev line from Longyang Road Station to the new transport hub or even further.

"The uncertainty of the Maglev extension might affect the construction of the entire transport hub," an official of the hub project, who asked for anonymity, said yesterday.

He said the two Metro stations, lines 2 and 10, will be built beneath the Shanghai-Beijing railway station for passenger transfer by 2010.

Eventually, there will be five Metro lines entering the hub.

As the Maglev plan is undecided, project managers are still considering whether to leave a vacant Maglev area near the railway station.

"It will be a demanding job for us to calculate the size and position of that vacancy," he said.

China has set up a leadership team to oversee the construction of the Shanghai-Beijing high-speed rail link which is expected to begin soon to ensure its operation for World Expo 2010 in Shanghai.

The new rail link, totalling 1,318 kilometers, will reduce the travel time between China's two major cities from 12 hours to under five as the new trains are expected to run up to 350 kilometers per hour.

More than 80 percent of the railway, which includes 21 stations, will be laid on elevated girders and equipped with special devices to reduce noise and minimize disruption to residents living near the line.

Beijing-based media also reported that major domestic banks - including China Construction Bank, Bank of China and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China - are likely to invest 10 billion yuan (US$1.33 billion) each for the railway project.

An investment firm for the project will also be established by the year's end.

Sun Zhang, a professor of railway planning of Tongji University, said: "The Maglev extension will be very necessary to alleviate traffic for the World Expo."