Report: China to build Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway soon
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
China will soon begin building a high-speed railway linking Beijing with China's commercial capital Shanghai, a state-run newspaper reported Monday, citing the minister of railways.
Minister Liu Zhijun, speaking to a national conference, did not give a specific date for the start of construction, the China Daily reported.
The project, in planning for a decade, was due to begin last year for operation in 2010, but it has been delayed, apparently by controversy over the technology to be used.
The China Daily report said the cost of the project is estimated to have risen to 170 billion yuan (US$22.5 billion; €16.4 billion) because of rising costs for real estate and resettlement. The project was originally estimated at 130 billion yuan (US$17.2 billion;€12.6 billion).