Shanghai municipal authority on Wednesday denied reports that it
has been ordered to suspend its 175-km maglev rail link to the city
of Hangzhou.
Preliminary work, including discussions and advice regarding
environmental protection from experts and residents, was still
being conducted for the Shanghai section of the project, said Jiao
Yang, a spokesman of the Shanghai municipal government, at a news
conference.
Some media earlier reported that the project had been suspended
due to residents' concerns about the magnetic radiation.
Approved by the central government in March 2006, the project is
estimated to cost 35 billion yuan (US$4.5 billion) and trains will
be able to reach speeds of 450 km per hour.
The Shanghai-Hangzhou line would have been be the world's second
commercial high-speed maglev track. Shanghai operates the world's
only commercial maglev system on a 30-km route between Shanghai's
financial district and its Pudong airport.
(Xinhua News Agency May 31, 2007)