Railroads News
- Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail delayed
Date: 10-Dec-2007 Sources: (Shenzhen Daily)
A PLANNED high-speed rail line between Beijing and Shanghai is unlikely to be completed until at least 2013, the government said, in the latest setback for the long-delayed project.
A notice on the Web site of the national railway ministry Saturday also said the ministry would take a 78.9 percent stake in an investment vehicle formed to finance the project, whose ballooning costs have fuelled delays.
The line was expected to take five years to complete, the notice said, meaning it would not be operational for the 2010 World Expo to be hosted by Shanghai, as originally hoped.
The project was first proposed in 1994 and was originally supposed to be completed before the 2008 Beijing Olympics. As delays mounted, the government later set its sights on completion in time for the Shanghai expo.
The railway minister said in September that construction would begin 'soon?but no specific date was given.
Trains on the 1,300-kilometer line will run at speeds of up to 350 kilometers per hour, halving travel time between China's two dominant cities to less than five hours, domestic media has reported.
The project, which has been on the drawing board for more than 10 years, was expected to start construction last year but has been delayed by the Central Government as costs spiraled.
It finally won approval in September with a budget nearly twice the initial estimate of 130 billion yuan (US$17.3 billion).
The ministry notice gave no information on how much the investment vehicle would raise.
Rising real estate and construction material prices have been blamed for the soaring budget.
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