Shanghai municipal authority on Wednesday denied reports that it has been ordered to suspend its 175-km maglev rail link to the city of Hangzhou.

Preliminary work, including discussions and advice regarding environmental protection from experts and residents, was still being conducted for the Shanghai section of the project, said Jiao Yang, a spokesman of the Shanghai municipal government, at a news conference.

Some media earlier reported that the project had been suspended due to residents' concerns about the magnetic radiation.

Approved by the central government in March 2006, the project is estimated to cost 35 billion yuan (US$4.5 billion) and trains will be able to reach speeds of 450 km per hour.

The Shanghai-Hangzhou line would have been be the world's second commercial high-speed maglev track. Shanghai operates the world's only commercial maglev system on a 30-km route between Shanghai's financial district and its Pudong airport.

(Xinhua News Agency May 31, 2007)