GUANGZHOU - Service on the 102-km high-speed railway between Shenzhen and Guangzhou, in South China's Guangdong province, is scheduled to start on Monday.

The fast trains will be a new option for the many passengers between the two economically developed cities adjacent to Hong Kong, where the railway will extend to in 2015.

A non-stop trip between the Guangzhou South Station and the Shenzhen North Station will take 35 minutes at full speed, 34 minutes faster than the 139-km rail link between the Guangzhou East Station and Luohu Station in Shenzhen, according to the Guangzhou Railway Group Corp. The trains will run at a maximum hourly speed of 300 km initially.