This photo taken on Oct.20, 2010 shows a CRH380A train as it departs from Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station. The Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station, along with Shanghai-Hangzhou High-Speed Railway, will be open for commercial use at the end of the month. Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station, also serves as the terminal station of its railway line. Additionally it will achieve a zero-distance transfer with Shanghai-Nanjing High-speed Railway and the 2nd Terminal of Shanghai Hongqiao Airport. Shanghai-Hangzhou High-Speed Railway connects Shanghai with Hangzhou, and its trains reach speeds up to 350 kilometers per hour over its 202 kilometer stretch of tracks. [Xinhua]

Forty-five of the 50 high-speed trains to ply the route will travel between Shanghai's Hongqiao Station and Hangzhou Station. The other five will connect Shanghai Station and Hangzhou.

The new service will shorten the travel time between Hongqiao and Hangzhou from 1.5 hours to 45 minutes.

Total investment in the 202-km-long Shanghai-Hangzhou high-speed line totaled 29.29 billion yuan (US$4.4 billion).

Construction on the line began in February 2009.

Tickets for the service began selling Friday. A first-class ticket on the Hongqiao to Hangzhou line costs 131 yuan while a second-class ticket costs 82 yuan.

China is rapidly improving its railway system amid increased pressures on its transportation system.

By 2012, the country plans to have built 42 high-speed passenger rail lines with total track length of 13,000 kilometers.

(Xinhua News Agency October 23, 2010)