A HIGH speed railway between Beijing and Shanghai, China's largest cities, is being studied and if built, travellers will make the round trip in a day.
The 1,460 km railway will be exclusively for passengers and the existing line for cargo, according to the Ministry of Railways.
It will take six to seven hours for a train travelling at 250 km an hour to complete the trip from Beijing to Shanghai. About 30 per cent of the railway will be built above the ground.
The railway is estimated to cost more than 50 billion yuan (about HK$44.25 billion) to build, and China is considering different ways of attracting foreign investment, including loans, co-operation and even joint ventures.
A preliminary feasibility study has begun and the Government is still considering whether to give approval to the costly project.
But a railways ministry official said high return on investment was almost guaranteed as there would be heavy passenger flow between the two major cities.
He said the railway would be an ideal project for foreign participation as it would be a closed system and need not connect with the main railway network.
