Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway ahead of Schedule

According to a recent announcement by the minister of railways, Liu Zhijun, the operation of the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway is scheduled to start in the middle of June 2011, one year ahead of its original schedule.

 

Construction started on the 1,318-kilometer railway in April 2008 and it will cut the journey time between the two cities from the current 10 hours to less than five hours.

 

Liu said that a new-generation bullet train, with a speed of 380 km per hour will run on the high-speed rail link. The railway will be able to transport 80 million passengers a year.

 

With a total investment of CNY220.9 billion, the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway is expected to put competitive pressure on the airlines that serve this route.