Shanghai, China's financial and business center, will have more than 400 km of light rail lines capable of carrying six million commuters a day by 2010, as the city tries to tackle its traffic congestion woes.

According to the municipal communications commission, three new light rail and subways will start operation this year, increasing the length of all the city's transit lines from 145 km to 230 km.

By 2010, when the city hosts the World Expo, the city will have 11 rapid transit lines that will be able to carry six million passengers, or 35 percent of all commuters, each day.

Currently, the five lines now in operation carry an average of 1.78 million travelers a day, according to the commission.

According to earlier meeting on the development of urban rail lines held in Guiyang, capital of southwestern Guizhou province, ten Chinese cities including Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen had commuter rail lines in operation.

Another 25 cities are building or planning to build rail lines, according to the meeting.

Beijing's planning agencies said earlier in November that the city will have nine commuter rail lines stretching 200 km by 2008, and 19 lines totaling 561.5 km by 2020.

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Source: Xinhua