A maglev train in operation in Shanghai. (Photo provided to China Daily)
A national legislator has suggested that Shanghai, which operates the world's first commercial maglev line, should accelerate experiments and improve its technology to maintain a continuous advantage in this respect internationally.
A new round of technological competition in maglev trains is going on globally, and a number of countries are speeding up the development of maglev train technologies, said Wu Guanghui, a deputy to the National People's Congress and vice-president of State-owned and Shanghai-based aerospace manufacturer Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, on the sidelines of the ongoing annual session of the national legislature in Beijing.
Japan is constructing a maglev train line between Tokyo and Nagoya, which is scheduled to become operational in 2021 and the journey will take only 40 minutes, said Wu, who is also an academician with the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE).
"Many foreign technology suppliers are focusing on maglev trains and some are trying to offer new maglev plans for Shanghai," he said.
Even Tesla CEO Elon Musk has shown great interest in providing a plan for an underground maglev route in Shanghai when the company signed a cooperation memorandum on the Tesla Shanghai Gigafactory with the Shanghai government last year, Wu said.
"He claimed that the technology is being experimented in Los Angeles and Seattle," Wu said
