High-speed rail plan may delay China maglev -mayor

SHANGHAI, Sept 2 (Reuters) - A multibillion-dollar extension of Shanghai's maglev train line to the tourist city of Hangzhou may be delayed due in part to a separate high-speed rail link already planned for the two cities, Hangzhou's mayor said on Tuesday.

Last month, the government of Zhejiang province, which includes Hangzhou, said on its website that the Zhejiang section of the 200 km (124 mile) extension would be built between 2010 and 2014, at a cost of 22 billion yuan ($3.22 billion).

But Hangzhou Mayor Cai Qi said there was no timetable for the extension and, while it was sure to go ahead, it would not proceed as quickly as the Zhejiang government indicated because construction of another fast rail line from Shanghai to Hangzhou was due to begin next year.

"The maglev project has the backing of the Shanghai, Hangzhou and Zhejiang governments," Cai told Reuters on the sidelines of a Forbes forum honouring Hangzhou as China's best city for business.

"It is unlikely to be built in the same time frame as the high-speed railway project, but it will definitely go ahead," Cai added.

The maglev extension project, which sparked street protests by hundreds of Shanghai residents in January who feared it would emit harmful radiation and dent property values, is still under review by the national environmental regulator.

Shanghai's existing 30 km (18.6 miles) maglev line links its remote Pudong International Airport with a suburb, via trains that float along a magnetic cushion at top speeds above 400 kilometres an hour.

The world's only commercially operating magnetic levitation train, it was partly developed and built by a German consortium including Siemens (SIEGn.DE) and went into service in 2003.

Chinese authorities hope to extend the maglev line to Shanghai's domestic Hongqiao Airport across town, and then to Hangzhou.

After the January protests Shanghai officials insisted that the project was safe, but the city's Mayor Han Zheng told reporters in March that the municipal government had not included it among new projects planned for launch this year. ($1=6.840 Yuan) (Editing by Edmund Klamann)