Schiller Institute charges Danish Minister is Wrong about the Cost of Maglev

April 23 Copenhagen (EIRNS)--The internet version of Jyllands-Posten published an article reporting on a Schiller Institute press release challenging Danish Transportation Minister Flemming Hansen's estimation of the costs of constructing a direct maglev link between Copenhagen and Aarhus, Denmark's two largest cities, separated by the North Sea strait, Kattegat. Since Hansen's only objection to the Schiller Institute's proposal was the cost, it is significant that the Aarhus-based Jyllands-Posten , Denmark's largest newspaper, takes up the question.

Headline : Institute: Minister Is Wrong About the Cost for Maglevby Jens Kurt Joergensen

Kicker : "The Transportation Minister has exaggerated the price for a maglev connection across the Kattegat, thinks the Schiller Institute."

Text : "If a connection across the Kattegat is built, so that a super-fast maglev track can be established between Aarhus and Copenhagen, it will `only' cost 65 billion Danish kroner (DKK), and maybe significantly less.

"That is what Tom Gillesberg, the chairman of the Schiller Institute said, who originally launched the idea about the fast connection already last year.

- Cost for the Whole Network -

"He thinks that Transportation Minister Flemming Hansen (Conservative Party) has exaggerated the pricetag for such a connection, in his latest answer to Folketing's [parliament] Traffic Committee concerning this.

"`In the Minister's answer to the Folketing's Traffic Committee on April 16, where he considered a Danish maglev network, which, among other things, will connect Aarhus with Copenhagen in a half-hour, as possible, but too expensive, he mentioned that the Schiller Institute has set a cost for it at DKK190 billion. It is important to nail down that the cost is an estimate comprising a 635 km national maglev network, not just for the Copenhagen-Aarhus line, which will be a lot cheaper,' Tom Gillesberg points out.

"In the Schiller Institutes's own proposal, the 180 km connection, which will reduce the travel time from Aarhus to Copenhagen to 25 minutes, will cost about DKK65 billion.

- The Experience of Shanghai -

"`That is divided between DKK40 billion for a 46-km Kattegat bridge connection, across, or south of Samsoe, and DKK25 billion for the rest of the 134 km. line,' explains Tom Gillesberg.

"He adds that the price includes the cost of building stations, etc., based on the price it cost to build the maglev in the Chinese city Shanghai.

"`But with the experience from there, maybe it will be shown that it can be significantly cheaper, just as it may also be possible to build a combined maglev and highway bridge across the Kattegat, as happened across the Oeresund [from Copenhagen to Malmoe],' adds Tom Gillesberg.

"The Schiller Institute therefore proposes that the Traffic Ministry make a more detailed study, which can give a more exact estimate of the cost."