The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) announced on Monday that
the State Council has approved the Shanghai-Hangzhou high-speed
maglev railway, and the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway
projects.
A feasibility study on the Shanghai-Hangzhou maglev (magnetic
levitation) railway is now underway.
Construction of the 174-kilometer maglev railway is expected to
start this year. The plan is for the railway to be in full
operation before the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai.
Regular speeds on the maglev railway will be 450km per hour, but
it will be limited to below 200km per hour in the city's downtown
areas. When completed, travel time from Shanghai to Hangzhou will
be a mere half hour.
At a total cost of 35 billion yuan (about US$4.3 billion), the
maglev railway is expected to further beef up links between
Shanghai and Hangzhou and boost cooperation among the areas in the
booming Yangtze River Delta.
According to the NDRC, high-speed rail technology, rather than
maglev technology will be used for the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed
railway project.
Train speeds on the 1,320km railway will not exceed 350km/h,
with average speeds maintaining at about 300km/h.
Speaking during the 10th National People's Congress (NPC)
annual plenary session, Minister of Railways Liu Zhijun said that
domestically developed technologies will be used for this
railway.
Liu added that 140 billion yuan (US$17.5 billion) is required
for the project. The ministry will encourage multi-channel
fundraising from domestic and overseas investors.
The NDRC confirmed that the Beijing-Shanghai High-speed Railway
Co. Ltd will be established to supervise the construction and
operations of the railway.
This project is an important part of China's mid- and long-term
railway network scheme, which aims to ease the already strained
railway transport situation between the country's two largest
cities.
According to sources with the Ministry of Railways, China plans
to extend its railway length to 100,000 km by 2020. Over 12,000 km
of high-speed railways are to be built in the next few years at a
total cost of between 2 trillion (US$250 billion) and 2.5 trillion
yuan (US$312.5 billion).
(Xinhua News Agency March 14, 2006)