Associated Press
Report: China picks France's TGV technology for Beijing-Shanghai railway
Thursday February 12, 4:53 am ET
HONG KONG (AP) -- A 100 billion yuan (US$12 billion) railroad between Beijing and Shanghai will run on high-speed technology from French engineering group Alstom SA after officials opted against German and Japanese alternatives, a newspaper reported Thursday.
The Chinese Railways Ministry has picked France's Alstom SA to build the massive project, the pro-Beijing newspaper Ta Kung Pao said, citing unidentified officials.
At the Railway Ministry in Beijing, an official declined to confirm the report, telling The Associated Press on Thursday that the decision will be made by the Chinese Cabinet.
The newspaper report said Alstom will use its TVG -- or high-speed train -- technology and is expected to begin construction of the railway within two years.
The report said the Railways Ministry has rejected an Inter-City Express system developed by Deutsche Bahn AG, a magnetic-levitation rail line proposed by Siemens AG and ThyssenKrupp AG, as well as Japan's Shinkansen, or "bullet train" technology.
The German "maglev" proposal was derailed by frequent technical problems at a German-built line in Shanghai that started operating Jan. 1 and spans only 30 kilometers (18 miles), the newspaper said.
The maglev technique can be faster than conventional high-speed trains, but is also more expensive.
The Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway Project was first proposed in 1997.
Ta Kung Pao's story put the price of the railway at 100 billion yuan (US$12 billion), while others have estimated the cost of the 1,300-kilometer (750-mile) project at up to 120 billion yuan (US$14 billion).
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