Chinese officials expect to greatly reduce the cost of each kilometer of track before work begins on a maglev line linking Shanghai and Hangzhou in East China.

No timetable has been set for construction on the new maglev train line, Zhang Xiaoqiang, deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission, said in Shanghai on Wednesday.

Earlier report said that construction work would start on the new line within this year. Zhang said that a careful feasibility study should be conducted before the work begins.

Some officials want to cut the price of the line to 200 million yuan (US$25 million) per kilometer, Zhang was quoted as saying by Shanghai Daily.

Shanghai's current maglev line, which links Pudong International Airport and the Longyang Road subway station, cost 310 million yuan (US$38 million) per kilometer for construction.

A maglev railway project uses magnetically levitated or maglev trains to carry passengers to their destinations almost as fast as jet aircraft.

With a total length of 175 kilometers, the Shanghai-Hangzhou maglev railway is expected to go into operation before 2010 when Shanghai will host the World Expo.

Trains on maglev railway will reach a speed of 450 kilometers per hour, but will be limited under 200 kilometers per hour in the downtown areas. It will take passengers only 30 minutes to travel from Shanghai to Hangzhou. It currently takes 140 minutes to travel between the cities by rail.

Shanghai's current maglev line, the world's first commercially operational maglev, passed the state inspection on Wednesday.

(Xinhua News Agency April 27, 2006)