A new high-speed railway running from Guangzhou to Qingdao will open by the end of the year, said the Guangzhou Internet information center Tuesday on its official Weibo account.

The new line, expected to alleviate the rail traffic tension between the southern metropolis and the eastern coastal city, will shorten the journey to only 11 hours, some 18 hours less than an ordinary fast train trip, which stops at 22 stations.

T161, the only train so far connecting Guangzhou and Qingdao, spans 2,477 kilometers and takes 29 hours.

The Guangzhou-departing line will stop in Jinan, the capital city of eastern Shandong province, before heading directly?to the destination of Qingdao.

It will also pass through as many as five high-speed rail lines linking the country's transportation hubs such as Beijing, Shanghai and Central China's capital city Wuhan and Hefei.