Germany holds ‘maglev’ train crash talks

GERMANY’S transport minister met representatives of train manufacturer Transrapid yesterday to discuss the crash of a “maglev” high-speed train that killed 23 people and injured 10.

The Transrapid magnetic elevation train, which floats on a magnetic cushion, hit a maintenance truck on Friday on a test track supported by five-metre concrete stilts in the Emsland district of Germany.

The costly train, which set a speed record of 450 km per hour (280 miles per hour) in 1993, was developed by Transrapid International, a joint venture between German industrial firms Siemens AG and ThyssenKrupp.