An extra 3 billion yuan (US$374 million) will be invested into the high-speed maglev train line between Shanghai and Hangzhou to a total cost of 40 billion yuan, Oriental Morning Post reported today, citing Liu Ting, the vice director of Zhejiang Development and Reform Commission.

Liu said although the project introduced German technologies, private companies still have many business opportunities, including the construction and production of electro-mechanical equipments.

"Private companies can bid on the production of long stators, which provide magnetic and driving forces for the trains," Liu was quoted as saying. The long stator project will cost 8.5 billion yuan.

The 175 kilometer line will stop at the 2010 World Expo site, the Shanghai South Railway Station and Jiaxing, a small city in Zhejiang Province, before reaching Hangzhou.

With speeds as high as 450 kilometers per hour, the trip will take a half hour, compared with about two hours on a normal train.

The central government expects that the new maglev line will improve transport within the Yangtze River Delta region.

The line will be up and running by 2010 when Shanghai hosts the World Expo.

According to maglev experts, a single-trip ticket on the Shanghai-Hangzhou line will cost between 130 yuan to 150 yuan.

The project is now under a feasibility study and construction is expected to start later this year.

(Shanghai Daily June 5, 2006)