China builds levitating train
11 January 2006
Chinese engineers have developed the country's first medium- and low-speed magnetic levitation train. The maglev train, which was two years in development and travels 150 kilometers per hour, reached standards for safety and reliability, developers told state media Tuesday. The train would mainly be used for China's urban traffic system. China opened the world's first commercial magnetic levitation train, which reaches speeds of more than 430 kilometers per hour, in Shanghai in 2002, based on German technology. China is now the third country in the world able to build maglev trains, following Germany and Japan.