The International Rail Journal reported April 6 that Germany’s Industrial Plant Operating Company (IABG), responsible for the former Transrapid maglev Emsland test track near Lathen, has confirmed to local media that it has been approached by China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC) about reopening the site as a test area for CRRC’s new maglev vehicles.
CRRC has continued to develop the Transrapid technology, abandoned by Germany, under license from Thyssen-Krupp, IRJ reports. CRRC’s latest CRRC600 series maglev train will be used on the planned 400-km, $14.1 billion maglev route connecting Shanghai with Ningbo via Hangzhou in China’s Zhejiang province. A CRRC investment at Lathen may be relevant for the potential realization of new maglev projects in Germany and Europe.
Demolition work at the Emsland site has removed the valuable electrical equipment there; none of the test track’s concrete structures have been demolished though. But as IRJ rightly points out, new electrical equipment and refurbishment of the 31-km elevated test track is required if the facility is to reopen.
