Hangzhou-Ningbo high-speed line to open in July

The Hangzhou-Ningbo high-speed railway line, now under test run, will be fully operational by early July if the trial runs smoothly, said the railway authority.

According to local newspaper Modern Gold Express, the trial run, which started in early March, would last for around 100 days.

The new train line will shorten the travel time between Hangzhou and Ningbo from two hours to about 35 minutes.

Test runs on the 150-km-long Hangzhou-Ningbo line have been delayed several times following the high-speed train crash in Wenzhou on July 23, 2011, that claimed 40 lives.

The railway line was originally designed to handle train speeds of up to 350 km per hour. However, rail authorities slowed the 350 km/h rail service between Shanghai and Hangzhou to 300 km/h starting in August 2011. Seven other lines that had operated at 250 km/h were reduced to 200 km/h.