Construction work is expected to start by the end of this year on the maglev railway between China's largest metropolis Shanghai and Hangzhou, a famous tourist destination and capital of east China's Zhejiang Province.

The feasibility study of the project which uses magnetically levitated or maglev trains to whisk passengers to their destinations almost as fast as jet aircraft, will be assessed in the near future, government sources in Shanghai said on Thursday.

The principal of a magnet train is that floats on a magnetic field and is propelled by a linear induction motor. Maglev trains travel extremely fast because there is no friction.

With a total length of 175 kilometers, the Shanghai-Hangzhou maglev railway is expected to go into operation before 2010 when Shanghai will host the World Expo.

Total cost of the project is estimated at 35 billion yuan (around US$4.3 billion).

Trains on the maglev railway will reach speed of 450 kilometers per hour, but will be limited to under 200 kilometers per hour in the city downtown areas. It will take passengers only 30 minutes to travel from Shanghai to Hangzhou. It currently takes 140 minutes to travel between the cities by rail.

This will be the second one if its kind in the country after the line in Shanghai-based Pudong Airport.

(Xinhua News Agency April 4, 2006)