Subject:  Germany To Derail Train Project (DePippo)
Date:     Wed, 29 Sep 1999 110157 -0500 (CDT)
From:     "Roy L. Beavers" 
To:       emfguru 
--------------------------------------------------


........It seems that in Germany there is a government that can make
decisions AGAINST the $$$$$$.....  Or ... isn't it really a dollar-saving
(deutch-mark saving) decision in the long run?????!!!!......  I believe
it is.......

Roy Beavers (EMFguru)......
rbeavers@llion.org.......
.....It is better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness.....
EMF-L web-site can be found at: 
EMF-L archives can be found at: 
..................PEOPLE ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN PROFITS..................

..........DO YOU KNOW OF OTHERS WHO SHOULD BE ON THIS LIST??????..........

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 29 Sep 1999 11:28:45 EDT
From: PDepippo@aol.com
To: rbeavers@llion.org
Subject: Germany To Derail Train Project

Germany To Derail Train Project

.c The Associated Press

 By TONY CZUCZKA

BERLIN (AP) - Whizzing along a monorail at more than 250 mph, the Transrapid 
was supposed to be the future of rail travel in train-loving Germany.

But the prestige project seems about to grind to a halt after Chancellor 
Gerhard Schroeder's government gave new signs Tuesday that it intends to pull 
the plug.

Long opposed by environmentalists who claim its electromagnetic radiation is 
a health hazard, the Transrapid has been doomed since the center-left 
coalition came to power last fall with the ecology-minded Greens as junior 
partner.

Schroeder's recent drive to cut federal spending has made it even less likely 
the government will step in to save the sleek magnetic levitation train.

``As far as I'm concerned, the Transrapid is headed for a coffin,'' Kerstin 
Mueller, a leading Greens legislator, said Tuesday.

Scrapping the Transrapid would kill a prestige technology project and export 
hope for German industry.

Already, industry took a hit Tuesday when shares in Thyssen Krupp, the 
project's driving force, dropped 5 percent on the Frankfurt stock exchange 
after the government's latest statements.

Several firms in the consortium to build and operate the train have indicated 
they're ready to scrap the project, said Social Democrat lawmaker Wilhelm 
Schmidt. He gave no details.

The gliding train, driven by electrically generated magnetic forces on a 
cushion of air, would cut travel time between Berlin and Hamburg by 
two-thirds, to just under an hour in the first intercity link of its kind.

But Schroeder's Social Democrats and the Greens insist the government will 
pay only the $5.8 billion pledged by the previous government - though the 
total cost is expected to be 50 percent higher.

Recent studies predicting that the proposed link between Germany's two 
biggest cities would attract fewer passengers than originally expected have 
bolstered skeptics.

A last-minute idea by Schroeder's side - building a single 185-mile track 
instead of two - also seems a nonstarter.

The governing parties agreed late Monday to approve that version only if it 
makes economic sense - which the Greens and the German railways have already 
said it doesn't.

Schroeder said Tuesday the government is reviewing the entire project, but 
added: ``The train will run if it is economically viable.''

Opponents, in addition to citing high costs, argue the electromagnetic fields 
driving the train could be unhealthy for people and animals. 
Environmentalists say the tracks will endanger wildlife habitats in northern 
Germany.

Some conservative opposition politicians urged the government to take the 
plunge, saying the project would create jobs.

``A single-track version would be an acceptable solution,'' said Dieter Posch 
of the small, pro-business Free Democrats.



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Reprinted with permission of Roy Beavers, http://www.emfguru.com