HIGH-SPEED trains are expected to operate between Shenzhen and Jinan, Shandong Province, at the end of the year, when the new national railway operation schedule takes effect, according to a report in yesterday’s Shenzhen Special Zone Daily, quoting sources from Jinan’s railway authority.

    The trip between the two cities is expected to take about 10 hours and 30 minutes and the fare for a second-class seat is estimated to be 900 yuan (US$147). A first-class seat is estimated to cost about 1,400 yuan.

    Guangzhou Railway Group didn’t confirm the report.

    The country’s high-speed railway network is improving with the opening of more and more high-speed rail lines in recent years. They include the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail line, the Hefei-Hunan high-speed rail line, the Wuhan-Guangzhou high-speed rail line and the Harbin-Dalian high-speed rail line. Construction of the Shanghai-Kunmin and Hefei-Fuzhou high-speed rail lines is scheduled to be completed this year.

    The Jinan railway authority said the high-speed train from Jinan to Shenzhen will go through the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail line, the Hefei-Wuhan high-speed rail line and the Wuhan-Guangzhou high-speed rail line before it reaches Shenzhen.

    So far, there are two trains — K1282 and K1688 — operating between Shenzhen and Jinan. The travel time for K1282 is 27 hours.

    The operator also opened high-speed trains from Jinan to Guangzhou in January this year. It takes about nine hours and 57 minutes to travel between the two cities using the high-speed train.

    (Han Ximin)