Every so often its good to be reminded that the Chinese economic miracle is not all it seems. Beneath the g-force economic growth and jaw-dropping statistics lie a fallibility and frailty that are thrown into stark relief by stories like this.
Municipal authorities in Shanghai have cut prices yet again for the superfast Maglev train that links the airport and the downtown area. In an effort stave off the seemingly inevitable decision to abandon the technological boondoggle, maglev management have made discounts of up to 40% available to those who buy 30 one-way tickets. This comes a little over a year after ticket prices were slashed from more than 75 yuan to less than 50 yuan.
The Shanghai train is the only commercial train in the world utilizing maglev technology. It was conceived as a symbol of the astonishing rise of both Shanghai and China, and as an advertisement for the country’s technological development. As such, it is a project of which the government is fiercely proud and keenly protective. But commercially, and indeed logistically, it has been an collosal failure. It has never turned a profit and shows no sign of doing so. In fact, the local government have been keeping this white elephant on the tracks by underwriting annual losses of almost half a billion yuan.
The train whisks passengers from its terminus to the airport in just 8 minutes, at a top speed of 432 kilometres. But few bother to take it because, despite the speed, it’s surprisingly inconvenient. For one thing, it doesn’t actually go from the city centre, but from a station about 10 km from downtown. You can get the subway to the Maglev station, but that’s still a 20 minute journey from Pudong or Nanjing Road. And anyone who has tried to lug their suitcases on or off of a Shanghai subway at rush hour in People’s Square will understand why people forego the experience of riding this transportation marvel in in favour of taking a bus or taxi.
In spite of all this, authorities continue to talk up maglev technology and China’s role in developing it. There is even talk of extending the existing maglev line, and discussions are ongoing between Chinese and German authorities about building a maglev connecting Shanghai and Hangzhou. Talks on the development of this line stalled earlier in the summer, however, when the German side rejected China’s demands for the German technology in exchange for the construction contract.
This idea received a further blow when the airport maglev caught fire while in service in late August. The irrepressible People’s Daily, as only the People’s Daily can, performed outrageous cartwheels of logic in an effort to put a positive spin on this mishap involving the symbol of the country’s technological prowess, claiming that, rather than dampening enthusiasm for maglev technology, the fire would strengthen the Chinese hand in the negotiations with the Germans.
Good news for Gordon Brown and the Labour party, though. George Osborne, David Cameron’s Shadow Chancellor, is reportedly dead set on splashing billions of taxpayers’ pounds on maglevs in the UK if the Tories get into power. "“If Japan is developing this technology, if China has already introduced this kind of train, if Germany is looking at this technology, why are we not doing so in Britain?” he said. Mr Osborne would be well advised to look closer at the Chinese model before repeating such statements.
