The Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway may not be complete till 2013 and won't serve the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, as expected.

A bidding notice posted on the website of the Ministry of Railways' engineering section says the project will take five years to complete.

Issued by the railway's preparation office on Thursday, the notice says the ministry will take a 78.9 percent stake in the investment vehicle to finance the project, with other investors holding the rest.