Germany to go ahead with high-speed train: report
BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany plans to go ahead with a high-speed magnetic levitation train project that was called into question after a deadly accident last year, daily newspaper Die Welt reported on Thursday.
The construction of the Transrapid "maglev" train, which set a speed record of 450 km per hour (250 miles per hour), was in doubt after a crash on a test track last year killed 23 people and injured 10.
But a source in the German Transport Ministry told daily Die Welt that the government planned to push ahead with the project.
"As soon as we agree on the financing, we want to finalize the project quickly," the source told the newspaper.
The Transrapid train, which floats on a magnetic cushion instead of riding on tracks, was developed by a joint venture between German industrial firms Siemens AG and Thyssen Krupp.
The newspaper said Transport Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee and Economy Minister of the state of Bavaria Erwin Huber would meet at the end of August to discuss the project.
The world's only commercial Transrapid line runs in China between Shanghai and its airport. Germany's southern state of Bavaria has been considering whether to build a stretch from Munich airport to the city centre.
According to the paper the permission for construction from German authorities would come no earlier than by the end of 2007.
