Construction will start by late March on a new passenger rail line between Shanghai and Hangzhou, a scenic city in east China's Zhejiang Province, a rail official said on Friday.

The exact starting date for construction work won't be known until the National Development and Reform Commission, the nation's chief planning agency, approves a report on the project, according to Yu Jian'er, chairman of the board and general manager of Zhejiang Provincial Railway Investment Group Co. Ltd.

The report was submitted on December 15, said Yu, and approval was likely in mid-February. Construction is forecast to take two years.

The line will be 159 km long, with 105 km in Zhejiang. Trains on the line will be able to run up to 350 km per hour, shortening the trip from Shanghai to Hangzhou to 38 minutes from more than one hour at present.

Yu confirmed that the Ministry of Railways, Shanghai, Zhejiang and Baosteel Group would invest in the project, which will cost 29.68 billion yuan (about US$4.37 billion).

Baosteel will invest about 2 billion yuan, with the ministry, Shanghai and Zhejiang sharing the rest of the cost equally.

Zhejiang Provincial Railway owns all railways in the province and will take charge of related operations.

A notice on the website of the company said the ministries of Environmental Protection and Land and Resources had approved the environmental impact and land use plans for the project on January 21.

(Xinhua News Agency February 6, 2009)