Asia - Shanghai: Extended maglev hours until Dec 2

This week only, the Pudong-Shanghai maglev will extend its operating hours to run from 7am until 9pm instead of the normal 8.30am to 5.30pm. Rather inexplicably, they're also cutting down the speed to a poky 300 km/h "to conserve energy" (?) during these extended hours, but it's still a welcome move -- as the article below says, "Passengers will be able to catch 70% of flights with the maglev, instead of 40% normally." Here's hoping they make the trial permanent.

http://www.shanghaidaily.com/art/2005/11/29/219848/Maglev_trains_trial_longer_hours.htm

that's good news, i guess.

the mysterious policy decisions that bely the shanghai maglev never cease to amaze me. one fairly popular rumor is that the mor is considering killing the maglev completely once the #2 subway is complete (and extends to both airports). apparently, revenues (from ~1,000 riders per day paying 33-47% less than the originally projected ticket prices) don't even come close to covering marginal costs, let alone the $2 billion development expense.

like many others, i was puzzled that the city couldn't muster up enough money to bring it across the river in the first place. while doing so may have doubled the price tag and would have fallen on local tax payers (the mor's commitment was to build only enough track necessary to get the train to top speed in order to assess the viability of building more maglevs throughout china), it would have made the train infinitely more useful and comprised a nice feather in the city's cap.

as it stands now, the world's fastest commercial train goes from one section of nowhere to another (for those that haven't ridden, it's worth noting that the pvg maglev station is quite a hike from the terminal and the moving sidewalks tend to be power off more often than not).

all that said, like i've advised before, anyone who likes fancy trains should try out the maglev at least once (better on your way out of town, when you are alert enough to deal with the hassels it entails). it is a fun ride.

I second your thoughts Moondog. The maglev seems to run on odd hours and inconveniently places one from one airport to the middle of Pudong, requiring extended further public transport to get anywhere. I guess the German construction company must be thrilled, but otherwise, it seems to be a very large and expensive white elephant.

it seems to be a very large and expensive white elephant.

but its such a cool white elephant :D

Maybe one day, people could find something philosophical about going from nowhere to nowhere in such manner

Today's Shanghai Daily (http://news.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=:ePkh8BM9EwLbwS3EWCnFlJWoxJRVICTGxRmcmZeeWJBflK rFWQxjQqwX4OJwLMtMLMnMz9Ni8fbxdBQS5eIMKUrMKwaqKdHi 8M3Pyy9KzMwR4tBi801Mz0ktExIBasksUnAszkzU4kjMLNJLBL KEeLS4wjOzM0uKEstSc2A-AABB7Cch/7-0-0&fp=438ea7a0e833a53e&ei=C_WOQ6-7N7jqaLzIxcUN&url=http%3A//www.shanghaidaily.com/art/2005/12/01/220522/Maglev_operating_hours_extended.htm&cid=1102689020) announced that the longer operating hours will henceforth be permanent, and the SMTDC (http://www.smtdc.com/en/index.asp) website agrees. ^