The tracks under the world's first commercial magnetic-levitation train are sinking, possibly threatening the US$1.2 billion project, a newspaper reported yesterday.
Officials in Shanghai wouldn't comment on the report.
The Shanghai Daily gave no details of the sinking and it wasn't clear whether that would affect operations.
The 430kph "maglev" began operations this year, linking Shanghai's new international airport with its eastern financial district.
"We have been aware of the sinking of our maglev track," Xia Guozhong (夏國忠), a spokesman for the company running the pro-ject, was quoted as saying.
The tracks were sinking "very slightly," Xia said, although he declined to say whether it would affect operations.
Spokesmen and officials with the Shanghai Maglev Transport Development Co didn't respond to requests for comment. A spokeswoman for the Shanghai City Government said she had no information, but said her office was checking the newspaper report.
German companies spent decades and billions of dollars developing maglev technology, but had searched in vain for a customer until Shanghai leaders picked the system as a way to highlight the city's high-tech ambitions.
While a certain amount of settling was normal, too much could harm the project, Shanghai Daily quoted Chinese experts as saying.
"If the track sinks beyond its safety level, managers will have to stop the line's operation," Yu Jiakang, a senior engineer with the Shanghai Tunnel Engineering and Rail Transit Design and Research Institute, was quoted as saying.
In comments to reporters, Yu said track settling could be arrested by reinforcing groundsoil.
"Slight sinking isn't a problem," Yu said, adding that it should be possible "to reinforce subsoil for the maglev if necessary."
Shanghai is built on swampy land and long has faced problems with land sinking.
Sinking tracks aren't the only problem facing the maglev, which uses a powerful magnetic field to suspend trains millimeters above their rails and propel them at jet plane speed.
The 440-seat trains carried an average of just 73 passengers per day last month, the Shanghai Daily said.
At 75 yuan (US$9) each way, tickets are considered too pricey for most residents. The train's station is inconveniently located kilometers from the heart of town.
GEARING UP: An invasion would be difficult and would strain China’s forces, but it has conducted large-scale training supporting an invasion scenario, the report said China increased its military pressure on Taiwan last year and took other steps in preparation for a potential invasion, an annual report published by the US Department of Defense on Wednesday showed. “Throughout 2023, Beijing continued to erode longstanding norms in and around Taiwan by employing a range of pressure tactics against Taiwan,” the report said, which is titled “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China (PRC) 2024.” The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) “is preparing for a contingency to unify Taiwan with the PRC by force, if perceived as necessary by Beijing, while simultaneously deterring, delaying or denying
‘ONE BRIDGE’: The US president-elect met with Akie Abe on Dec. 15 in Florida and the two discussed a potential Taiwan-China conflict’s implications for world peace US president-elect Donald Trump has described Taiwan as “a major issue for world peace” during a meeting with Akie Abe, the widow of late Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, Japanese newspaper the Yomiuri Shimbun quoted sources as saying in a report yesterday. Trump met with Akie Abe on Dec. 15 at the Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, where the two discussed the Russo-Ukrainian war and the situation in the Taiwan Strait. During the meeting, Trump spoke on the implications for world peace of a potential Taiwan-China conflict, which “indicated his administration’s stance of placing importance on dealing with the situation in
QUICK LOOK: The amendments include stricter recall requirements and Constitutional Court procedures, as well as a big increase in local governments’ budgets Portions of controversial amendments to tighten requirements for recalling officials and Constitutional Court procedures were passed by opposition lawmakers yesterday following clashes between lawmakers in the morning, as Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members tried to block Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators from entering the chamber. Parts of the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法) and Constitutional Court Procedure Act (憲法訴訟法) passed the third reading yesterday. The legislature was still voting on various amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) as of press time last night, after the session was extended to midnight. Amendments to Article 4
ALLIANCE: Washington continues to implement its policy of normalizing arms sales to Taiwan and helps enhance its defense, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said US President Joe Biden on Friday agreed to provide US$571.3 million in defense support for Taiwan, the White House said, while the US State Department approved the potential sale of US$265 million in military equipment. Biden had delegated to the secretary of state the authority “to direct the drawdown of up to US$571.3 million in defense articles and services of the Department of Defense, and military education and training, to provide assistance to Taiwan,” the White House said in a statement. However, it did not provide specific details about this latest package, which was the third of its kind to
RSS