The major section is about 164.577km and the airport link covers 34.857km.

Zhejiang will have 103.553km of the Maglev line in its territory and stations in the cities of Jiaxing and Hangzhou, the plan said.

Shanghai will have three stations – Longyang Road Station, World Expo Station and Shanghai Southern Railway Station, the Oriental Morning Post said.

Approved by the Central Government in March 2006, trains on the Maglev track are expected to hit speeds of 450kmh. Speed will be limited within 200kmh in cities downtown areas. It was planned to go into operation by 2010 in time for Shanghai World Expo.

Shanghai operates the world's only commercial Maglev system on a 30km run between Longyang Station on Metro Line 2 and Pudong International Airport.

The planned Maglev route was to be separated from communities along the course by a greenbelt only 22.5 meters wide at both sides. A local government blueprint had earlier indicated a protection belt 150m wide would be built on either side.

The Shanghai Government has been under pressure since its announcement of the line early last year, with crowds of petitioners knocking at their doors every day. Thousands of complaints were also received online.

The Minhang District government alone received more than 5,000 petitioners in a single day in March last year.

The Central Government suspended the project on May 26 last year and the State Environmental Protection Administration pledged in last June it would "solicit opinions from all channels" to see whether the Maglev line would threaten the health of nearby residents.

(Shanghai Daily August 20, 2008)