After five months of trial operation, Xinguoxian (Shanghai) Passenger Transport Co. officially opened yesterday to provide express long-distance road transport service between Shanghai and Beijing.

The company has doubled its fleet by adding 10 new luxurious coaches, each offering 32 fixed beds and manned with two drivers and an attendant.

Worth 2.5 million yuan (US$300,000) each, the new coaches are the most expensive vehicles deployed in China's long-distance land transport service so far.

"To meet rising demand for travel between the two cities, the Shanghai-Beijing expressway service will be doubled to four times a day," said General Manager Liu Degong.

Xinguoxian's coaches travel along the 1,263-kilometer Shanghai-Beijing expressway, whose construction was completed in December. The highway connects Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai municipalities with Hebei, Shandong and Jiangsu provinces.

A one-way trip between Shanghai and Beijing takes about 14 to 15 hours. Ticket prices, including a free meal, are 311 yuan for a bed on new coaches and 286 yuan for a normal seat.

The coaches depart from the Hengfeng Road long-distance station near Shanghai Railway Station at 8 a.m., 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. every day.

(Eastday.com.cn 09/27/2001)