Debris from the wreckage of the Transrapid high-speed train is pictured underneath the track following a collision in the northern German region of Emsland near the town of Lathen September 23, 2006. The high tech magnetic train, smashed into a maintenance vehicle, killing 23 people, authorities said. (Photo: Reuters)   Sept. 24 - The head of China's Maglev magnetic high-speed train line on Saturday visited the site in Germany where a similar train crashed on Friday, killing 23 people, officials said.

 

The elevated Transrapid, one of the world's fastest trains, collided with a maintenance truck at high speed on Friday on a test track in the Emsland district of Germany.

 

A delegation led by commander Wu Xiangming, manager of the Transrapid line in Shanghai, was visiting the site, said Rudolf Schwarz, managing director of IABG, the test track's operator.

 

He said Wu wanted to consider possible consequences for the Maglev line in Shanghai, which was launched in 2003 using German technology and is the world's only commercial magnetic levitation train in operation.

 

The Chinese government and Transrapid International, the train's developer, have been discussing the possibility of extending the Chinese line by 160 km to the city of Hangzhou.

 

Clean-up work at the crash site, littered with debris, foam and broken glass over a wide area, has not yet begun as police are investigating the crash, which also injured 10 people.

 

The train, which rides on a track supported by concrete stilts around 5 metres above ground, was not derailed in the accident, officials said, but its height had made the rescue operation difficult.

 

The costly train, which set a speed record of 450 kph in 1993, was developed by Transrapid International, a joint venture between German industrial firms Siemens AG and ThyssenKrupp.

 

In Shanghai, travellers continued to ride the Maglev train on Saturday, with hundreds commuting between Shanghai and its international airport every hour. The Maglev reached its usual top speed of about 430 km an hour (270 mph) during the 30-km 19-mile) trip.