Company News Nov 21, 2000 1:00 AM
Transrapid project Shanghai
The report from Beijing by the dpa news agency that China was prepared to realize a 35 km Transrapid line in Shanghai was confirmed in principle today by Dr. Hans Christoph Atzpodien, spokesman for the management board of Kiel, Germany-based Thyssen Transrapid System GmbH.
To comply with the timeframe envisaged by China, Atzpodien continued, a corresponding supply agreement would have to be concluded before the end of this year between the responsible Chinese project company and the German firms cooperating on the Transrapid system, i.e. Thyssen Transrapid System GmbH (part of the ThyssenKrupp Group), Siemens AG and Transrapid International GmbH & Co. KG.
However, he added that China clearly expected the German government to deliver on the promises made by several high-ranking politicians during visits to China by supporting the project with a low-interest loan. This commitment was expected regardless of the fact that China had also set aside funds to finance the project, in particular for the construction of the guideway.
Finally Atzpodien emphasized that an order from China for the production of 24 vehicle sections (carriages), approx. 130,000 so-called stator packs - propulsion modules for the guideway – as well as points and motor engineering would have an important bridging function at the Kassel location until the first Transrapid order was placed in Germany. Atzpodien referred in this respect to the agreement reached at the end of October between the German federal government and the state governments of North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria that a decision would be made by early 2002 on a route in NRW or Munich.
Thyssen Transrapid System GmbH, Kassel, is part of ThyssenKrupp AG’s new Invest segment. It is responsible for manufacturing and integrating core Transrapid components at its Kassel location and for the relevant engineering, which is carried out in Munich in a joint venture with the Automotive segment, ThyssenKrupp Automotive Mechatronics GmbH. Via Thyssen Transrapid System GmbH, ThyssenKrupp - along with Siemens and DaimlerChrysler - has an interest in Transrapid International GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin, which markets the Transrapid system worldwide.