Service starts April 1 on two 250-km per hour passenger rail lines in central and north China, the Ministry of Railways said Tuesday.

The Hefei-Wuhan line will connect Hefei in Anhui Province and Wuhan in Hubei Province. Along with the Hefei-Ningbo line, it will shorten travel times between the Yangtze River Valley and central south China.

Passengers will be able to travel from Wuhan to Hefei in 1 hour and 55 minutes, saving 5 hours and 40 minutes.

The other route, linking Shijiazhuang in Hebei Province and Taiyuan in Shanxi Province, will take 59 minutes, saving 4 hours.

The line will facilitate transportation between west and north China, said Zhang Shuguang, deputy chief engineer of the ministry.

(Xinhua News Agency March 24, 2009)