Nokia Siemens Networks says it has been selected to implement GSM-R in the newly commissioned Hefei-Wuhan Passenger-dedicated Line.

This line is located in the eastern section of Shanghai-Wuhan-Chengdu corridor and will encourage regional economic and cultural communication between the Midwest China and the eastern coast. The 360-kilometer Hefei-Wuhan Line has 14 stations, passes through Anhui and Hubei provinces. This line will be operational by early 2009.

"China's railway construction is experiencing an unprecedented leap forward. Nokia Siemens Networks is striving to provide world class GSM-R system and solutions so as to support secure operation, high quality service and efficient railway transportation for Hefei-Wuhan Line.", said Zhang Zhiqiang, head of the Greater China Region of Nokia Siemens Networks.

Nokia Siemens Networks is a pioneer of GSM-R technology, with Siemens researching and creating the GSM-R standard starting in the early 1990s.The world's earliest three GSM-R trial networks and the first commercial network are all supplied by Nokia Siemens Networks.

In China, Nokia Siemens Networks is the leader of GSM-R systems and has undertaken five of the total seven GSM-R passenger-dedicated line projects in China that are under construction or have been put into operation. The notable one is the Beijing-Tianjin Railway for Beijing 2008 Sport Games which is the first high-speed railway with the maximum speed of 350km/h.