Track construction for the Beijing-Tianjin inter-city express railway will be finished by the end of this year. The express train will be put to trial use during the first quarter of next year and will fully operate before the 2008 Olympic Games, said Dai Xianglong, city mayor of Tianjin.

He made the statement on Thursday when he attended the 2007 World Shipping China Summit held in Tianjin.

"When the inter-city express train is put to operation, people will only spend about half an hour to travel between Beijing and Tianjin. The inter-city express train will depart every five minutes," Dai said.

The Beijing-Tianjin inter-city express railway will start from the Beijing South Railway Station and end at Tianjin Railway Station. The express train will travel a distance of 115 kilometers. Beijing and Tianjin are both municipalities directly under the central government. The two cities are located 120 kilometers away from each other and share a close economic tie. At present, people travel between the two cities mainly by railway and the Beijing-Tianjin-Tangshan expressway. So far, it takes 70-80 minutes to travel by rail to finish the journey between the two cities. At present, transportation on the Beijing-Tianjin-Tangshan expressway has reached its full capacity. Therefore, cars' travel speed on the highway is slowed down.

In addition, an eight-lane highway between Tianjin and Beijing is being constructed and the main lane of the second line of such highway will finish construction by the end of this year. The second line will be put to use just before the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Dai added.