The Ministry of Railways is mulling restructuring the line linking the country's two richest cities into a holding company before floating it, the China Daily reported.

The report said the line was China's most valuable, with assets of 44 billion dollars.

The ministry may also merge the assets of the separate Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail line, which is valued at 220 billion yuan (32.2 billion dollars), into the holding company after it goes public, the report said.

The main Beijing-Shanghai rail line is an existing link, while the separate high-speed line is due to become operational next year.

No timetable was given for the plan, which was said to be in its very early stages.

It could prove to be China's largest railway financing programme ever and help raise capital for rail construction in the nation's impoverished western areas, Chinese press reports said.

The Beijing-Shanghai railway is the busiest line in China, accounting for around 10 percent of the country's total rail passenger traffic, the China Daily said.

The high-speed line between the two cities is expected to double the capacity the current regular line carries to 80 million passengers a year and cut travel time to about five hours from 12 hours, it said.

Analysts said the listing plan could help alleviate the capital shortage faced by China in its ambitious rail network expansion.

The government has said it planned to add 41,000 kilometres (25,400 miles) of rail lines to its existing network at a cost of 731 billion dollars by 2020, bringing the total length of the system to 120,000 kilometres.

The plan has been fuelled by rising demand for rail travel and touted by the government as part of its plans to stimulate economic growth, which has slowed due to the global downturn.

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