Minister of Railways Liu Zhijun made the announcement at a national conference on railway innovation on Sunday, but did not specify a date for the 1,320 km-rail link. Travelling at a top speed of 350 kilometres per hour (kph), it will shorten travel time between the two cities from 13 hours to less than five.
The project has been on the drawing board for a decade and was expected to begin last year and start operations in 2010, but was postponed until now, the report said. The Beijing-Shanghai railway was initially estimated to cost 130 billion yuan (US$17.2 billion), but insiders quoted by the newspaper had said escalating real estate and resettlement costs might raise the final price tag to 170 billion yuan (US$22.5 billion).
Liu said China plans to master the technological aspects of building and operating high-speed railways before 2010. It was one of the ten goals set by the ministry for its eleventh five-year period (2006-10). Liu said China would acquire the world’s most advanced technologies as it upgrades its rail system. “We aim at the world’s topnotch technologies,” Liu was quoted as saying. The Minister said once these aims are fulfilled, the ministry will be able to provide a fast, safe and comfortable travel experience on 7,000 km of new track that is due to be completed by 2010.
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