The Ministry of Railways of China has announced that the high-speed rail line linking Beijing and Shanghai is set to open by the end of June 2011.

The 1,318-kilometres line will run 90 pairs of trains daily, with trains travelling at either 300 km/h or 250 km/h.

The fastest travel time between the two cities will be approximately four hours and 48 minutes, which is about half the time trains currently take.

The railway has a monitoring system that recognises any abnormalities, such as extreme weather or earthquakes, and will alert the railway's power and signal systems, forcing trains to slow down or even stop.

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