The much-anticipated Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway, the country's first-ever high-speed intercity railway project, will go under construction this year following expected official approval after the ongoing session of China's top legislature, the NPC.

Lang Guoping, deputy director in charge of preparations of the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway project and a deputy at this year's NPC session, disclosed this to reporters on Sunday in Beijing on the sidelines of the NPC and CPPCC sessions.

He said the new high-speed intercity railway project will hopefully be approved by the government following the current annual NPC session. Construction of the project is also expected to begin in three months following its approval. The major part of the railway project is expected to be completed by 2010.

According to the high-speed railway project chief, the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed trains, designed to run at 300 kilometers an hour, are expected to cut the current 14-hour travel time between the two cities to only five hours. Lang Guoping says the express railway service will set an example for intercity railway construction in China, featuring independent innovation and environmental protection.

The railway will even rival planes, as it will will offer an automatic ticketing system. Its trains will depart every three minutes during rush hour.

Regarding construction, railway tracks, bridges, tunnels and culverts will be independently built by Chinese companies. While high-speed trains, 80% of them will be made in China and 10% to 15% jointly made with foreign counterparts, including Siemens from Germany, Alstom from France, Bombardier from Canada and Kawasaki Heavy Industries from Japan. The Beijing-Shanghai high speed railway is designed for a lifespan of a hundred years.

To help reduce noise pollution, massive noise barriers will also be put up along tracks of the high-speed railway in densely populated areas. Such noise barriers will stretch 100 to 200 kilometers along the 1,300-kilometer-long high-speed railway between Beijing and Shanghai.

(CRI March 12, 2007)