The Beijing–Shanghai high-speed railway (or Jinghu high-speed railway, from its name in Mandarin) is a high-speed railway that connects two major economic zones in the People's Republic of China: the Bohai Economic Rim and the Yangtze River Delta. Construction began on April 18, 2008, with the line opened to the public for commercial service on June 30, 2011. The long high-speed line is the world's longest high-speed line ever constructed in a single phase. The line is one of the busiest high speed railways in the world, transporting over 210 million passengers in 2019, more than the annual ridership of the entire TGV or Intercity Express network. It is also China's most profitable high speed rail line, reporting a ¥11.9 billion Yuan ($1.86 billion USD) net profit in 2019. The railway line was the first one designed for a maximum speed of in commercial operations. The non-stop train from Beijing South to Shanghai Hongqiao was expected to take 3 hours and 58 minutes, making it the fastest scheduled train in the world, compared to 9 hours and 49 minutes on the fastest trains running on the parallel conventional railway. However, at first trains were limited to a maximum speed of , with the fastest train taking 4 hours and 48 minutes to travel from Beijing South to Shanghai Hongqiao, with one stop at Nanjing South. On September 21, 2017, operation was restored with the introduction of China Standardized EMU. This reduced travel times between Beijing and Shanghai to about 4 hours 18 minutes on the fastest scheduled trains, attaining an average speed of over a journey of making those services the fastest in the world. The Beijing–Shanghai high-speed railway went public on Shanghai Stock Exchange () in 2020. Specifications The Beijing–Shanghai High-Speed Railway Co., Ltd. was in charge of construction. The project was expected to cost 220 billion yuan (about $32 billion). An estimated 220,000 passengers are expected to use the trains each day, which is double the current capacity. During peak hours, trains should run every five minutes. , or 87% of the railway, is elevated. There are 244 bridges along the line. The long Danyang–Kunshan Grand Bridge is the longest bridge in the world, the long viaduct bridge between Langfang and Qingxian is the second longest in the world, and the Cangde Grand Bridge between Beijing's 4th Ring Road and Langfang is the fifth longest. The line also