(The Montreal Gazette posted the following story by Nicolas Van Praet on its website on October 3.)
MONTREAL — Officials with German engineering giant Siemens have been quietly lobbying federal and provincial political leaders for months in a bid to put their levitation high-speed train on the decision-making agenda.
They claim Bombardier’s prized JetTrain is “yesterday’s technology,” while insisting theirs is the way of the future.
Siemens representatives have met with federal Transport Minister David Collenette and officials with the governments of Alberta, Ontario and Quebec, asking for consideration when any high-speed project is awarded, said Albert Maringer, president and chief executive officer of Siemens Canada Ltd.
The federal Liberal government’s endlessly talked-about plan for a $3-billion fast train between Quebec City and Windsor now appears on hold as the transition to a new prime minister takes place. But that hasn’t stopped Siemens, which has dispatched officials to cozy up to leader-in-waiting Paul Martin. Collenette has stated he hopes to see the fast train in operation within six years.
Siemens has been pushing its electric-powered magnetic levitation train, called Maglev, Maringer said in an interview.
The train, developed in partnership with ThyssenKrupp AG, has no wheels. It uses powerful magnets to float just centimetres above a raised track and can cruise at speeds of more than 400 km/h.
China is using a Maglev train on a 30-kilometre track between Shanghai airport and its financial district.
Maringer said he wants to see the Maglev built on stilts between the lanes on Highway 401 between Montreal and Toronto, screaming past awe-shocked motorists. He said Alberta is also interested in the technology for the Calgary-to-Edmonton route.
“This thing will fly by,” Maringer said. “And that’ll be the last time you drive.”
Siemens has been trying to market the Maglev as a technology far more advanced and environmentally sound than any existing trains.
Maringer said Bombardier’s JetTrain would not contribute as much in terms of environmental green-gas reductions as Bombardier says because it uses a 5,000-horsepower turbine engine that spews emissions. An electric Maglev produces no emissions, Maringer said.
“When you put a new railway system in, it’s an investment for the next 35 years. Why would you do that … using yesterday’s technology?”
Bombardier officials countered that implementing the JetTrain would trigger people to ditch their cars, resulting in a 25-per-cent drop in current emissions in a typical 580-km corridor. The train’s speed would top out at 240 km/h.
“It’s environmentally friendly, it’s realistic, it’s affordable,” said Lecia Stewart, vice-president in charge of North American high-speed rail for Bombardier.
Bombardier looked at an electric high-speed train system in 1998 for the corridor and determined the cost to be $15 billion in today’s dollars. Such a system needs a dedicated track, which pushes up costs.
“You need to match the realistic size of the market and the demand with the capital dollars that are available,” Stewart said. “We think it’s the right technology.”
Maringer could not provide a dollar figure for how much it would cost to build a Maglev between Montreal and Toronto.
Siemens has the same turbine high-speed technology as Bombardier, but Maringer said his company proposes that system to developing countries, not developed ones.