Roll Over Gautrain

China is planning to build a high speed rail link from the capital Beijing to the southern city of Guangzhou, cutting the journey time from almost 24 hours to just 10.  The new line would cost at least 200 billion Yuan ($24bn).

It is the latest in a series of plans to revitalise the country's aging railway network. China has pledged massive investment in railways - including the world's first commercial magnetic levitation train which will be launched in Shanghai early next year. 

China's antiquated railways are a major bottleneck in the country's economic development. Official figures say the average speed of trains to the capital Beijing is just 75 km/h.

Since it is expected to link to the planned high speed rail link between Guangzhou and Hong Kong, analysts say the completed project would play a role in linking Hong Kong even more closely to the mainland Chinese economy.

Work on the Beijing to Guangzhou line might not start for another three to five years. First priority is completion of China's first long distance high speed rail link, from Beijing to Shanghai.  But work on this project has yet to begin - amid reports of differences of opinions among officials over what technology should be used.

One option is the revolutionary magnetic levitation train, with a top speed of about 500 km/h. A short test-line is currently under construction between Shanghai's new airport and the city centre, but officials are thought to be concerned about the expense. They are likely to wait to see how successful the Shanghai line is when it opens early next year.

The German consortium behind the Shanghai project says such a line would cut journey time from Beijing to Shanghai from 14 hours to less than four.

But experts say integrating such fast routes with the rest of China's railway network could pose a considerable problem - and passengers expecting rapid rail travel right across China could still be in for a long wait.

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