The travel time between Beijing and Guangzhou will be shortened from 20 hours to eight hours next month, when the Beijing-Guangzhou high-speed railway starts operating.

Tests of the high-speed railway started last week at Beijing West Railway Station, and operations will start at the end of December, according to a report in the Beijing Morning Post on Tuesday.

Trains currently take more than 20 hours to cover the 2,294 kilometers between Beijing and Guangzhou.

The ticket prices for the new line have not yet been released by the Ministry of Railways. But the report said that they will likely cost more than 900 yuan ($144) for a second-class seat, much more than the current prices of 253 yuan for a seat and around 450 yuan for a sleeper ticket.

The Beijing-Guangzhou high-speed railway will travel trough the cities of Shijiazhuang in North China's Hebei province, Wuhan in Central China's Hubei province, and Shenzhen in South China's Guangdong province.

The high-speed railway from Shenzhen to Hong Kong is expected to be completed in 2015, the report said.

anbaijie@chinadaily.com.cn