New maglev line to connect western Beijing

BEIJING - The country's first medium-low speed maglev line using Chinese technology is scheduled to launch in Beijing before March 2013, a chief project scientist has revealed.

"We're facing a tight timetable as we plan to try the first maglev train on the line by October 2012," Chang Wensen, China's chief project scientist for maglev technology and professor of the National University of Defense Technology, told China Daily.

The medium-low speed S1 Line will make China only the second country, after Japan, to have such a line, said Chang, who led the research team that developed the magnetic levitation, or maglev, technology.