Shanghai maglev extension costs could double-paper

SHANGHAI, Jan 4 (Reuters) - The cost of extending Shanghai's magnetic levitation train line may be double the original budget, to take into account local residents' concerns about exposure to radiation and noise, an official newspaper reported on Friday.

A revised plan of the railway's proposed route -- which would avoid densely-populated areas and have a wider buffer zone -- may push costs to 500 million yuan ($68.77 million) for each kilometre of the extended line, from 200 million yuan, the China Daily said, quoting an unnamed source.

Any extra funding still awaits government approval, but Shanghai authorities are unlikely to scrap the extension as they have already spent 10 billion yuan on the project, the paper added.

The Chinese government and a German consortium including German industrial giant Siemens (SIEGn.DE), which helped develop maglev technology, have also discussed the possibility of extending the line by 160 km (100 miles) to the city of Hangzhou, in China's eastern Zhejiang province.

The Ministry of Railways and the Shanghai municipal government would each finance 40 percent of the total investment for the Shanghai-Hangzhou maglev, while Zhejiang would finance the remainder, the paper said.

China has the only commercial maglev in operation in the world.

Launched in 2003, the maglev floats on a magnetic cushion over a distance of 30 kilometres between the suburbs of Shanghai, the country's financial centre, and its international airport in Pudong. ($1=7.271 Yuan) (Reporting by Sophie Taylor, editing by Ken Wills)