More than 90 percent of all flights to Hongqiao Airport would be transferred to the newly built No.2 Terminal. The 360,000 square meter terminal with a new runway has 45 plane parking bays and an annual transport capacity of 40 million people. The new terminal and direct Metro Line 2 will open on Tuesday 16th March and is expected to connect the city's two airports, Hongqiao and Pudong via Maglev train, before the 2010 World Expo begins in May.

Shanghai is spending nearly 300 billion yuan to expand its subway system alone, adding hundreds of kilometres of new tracks.

High-speed trains are due to start arriving at the airport from the eastern city of Nanjing on July 1, with trains from Beijing scheduled for next year.

The extension of Shanghai's 30-kilometre magnetic levitation, or Maglev, line to link Hongqiao and Pudong airports has recently received green light from the government.

Trains on the 199.4 kilometer-long Shanghai-Hangzhou maglev line will reach speeds of up to 430 kilometers an hour. After it is built, the Shanghai-Hangzhou maglev line will connect the Shanghai South Railway Station, Hongqiao Airport, Pudong Airport and Hangzhou city.

Experts said it would take about half an hour to travel from Shanghai to Hangzhou, a trip which usually takes one and an half hours on the current service.

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