A senior Zhejiang province official said that the proposed high-speed maglev train line linking Shanghai to Hangzhou is unlikely to proceed, reported South China Morning Post. The official said that the US$3.5bn project, approved by the State Council six years ago, has a “low possibility” of going ahead following the results of a feasibility study conducted by the Zhejiang Provincial Development Planning and Research Institute.

Shanghai is already linked to Hangzhou by a high-speed line that connects the cities in 45 minutes. The new proposed line would cut just seven minutes off that time, and there have been public protests that the investment is unnecessary.