Photo taken on June 12, 2011, shows a train in trial operation on the Beijing-Shanghai high speed railway leaving the Hongqiao station in Shanghai, east China. (Xinhua/Niu Yixin)

Beijing-Shanghai travelers will be able to buy coach-class tickets on a bullet-train line opening later this month for a less-than-expected 555 yuan (US$86), boosting the threat to local airlines on their busiest route.

One-way trips in the two different premium classes will cost from 935 yuan and 1,750 yuan on 300 kilometers per hour (186 miles per hour) services, Vice Rail Minister Hu Yadong told reporters today in Beijing. Zhao Jian, a professor at Beijing Jiaotong University, which specializes in railways, said this month that standard tickets would likely cost more than 600 yuan.

Ticket prices on three existing bullet-train lines will also be reduced by 5 percent as the ministry slows trains to 300 kph to pare operating costs and boost passenger numbers, Hu said. Beijing Capital International Airport Co., operator of the city's main airfield, fell the most in more than two years in Hong Kong trading on concern the 1,318-kilometer Beijing-Shanghai high-speed line will lure passengers from planes.

The ministry also reiterated plans to spend 2.8 trillion yuan on railways in the five years ending 2015. That will boost the total network to 120,000 kilometers, said Hu.

"Investments won't be reduced," he said. "The pace of development won't be slowed."

Beijing Capital dropped as much as 12 percent to HK$3.13, the biggest intraday decline since November 2008. It was down 3.9 percent at HK$3.41 as of 10:41 a.m.

Air China Ltd., the biggest carrier in Beijing, is advertising June 19 flights to Shanghai from 410 yuan on its website.