<P> Testing began shortly thereafter on the main line section between Shanghai and Nanjing . This section of the line sits on the soft soil of the Yangtze Delta, providing engineers an example of the more difficult challenges they would face in later construction . In addition to these challenges, high speed trains use extensive amounts of aluminium alloy, with specially designed windscreen glass capable of withstanding avian impacts . </P> <P> Construction work began on April 18, 2008 . Track - laying was started on July 19, 2010, and completed on November 15, 2010 . The overhead catenary work was completed on February 4, 2011 . According to CCTV, more than 130,000 construction workers and engineers were at work at the peak of the construction phase . </P> <P> According to the Ministry of Railways, construction has used twice as much concrete as the Three Gorges dam, and 120 times the amount of steel in the Beijing National Stadium . There are 244 bridges and 22 tunnels built to standardized designs, and the route is monitored by 321 seismic, 167 windspeed and 50 rainfall sensors . </P> <P> In 2006, it was estimated that the line would cost between CN ¥ 130 billion (US $16.25 billion) and ¥ 170 billion ($21.25 billion). The following year, the estimated cost had revised to ¥ 200 billion ($25 billion), or ¥ 150 million per kilometer . Due to rapid rises in the costs of labor, construction materials and land acquisitions over the previous years, by July 2008, the estimated cost was increased to ¥ 220 billion ($32 billion). By then, the state - owned company Beijing--Shanghai high - speed railway, established to raise funds for the project, had raised ¥ 110 billion, with the remaining to be sourced from local governments, share offerings, bank loans and, for the first time for a railway project, foreign investment . In the end, investment in the project totaled ¥ 217.6 billion ($34.7 billion). </P>

How long is the train from shanghai to beijing