SHANGHAI, May 30 (Reuters) - Shanghai has denied Chinese media reports that a planned magnetic levitation train line linking the city to neighbouring Hangzhou would be shelved, in part due to residents petitioning against it.

The official Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday that thousands of residents living along the proposed route had been petitioning for a suspension fearing the high-speed trains would emit radiation.

It quoted an unnamed Shanghai government official as saying the project had been "suspended in line with the arrangements of the municipal government."

Shanghai government spokesman Jiao Yang denied the reports.

"As to whether (the project) has been stopped or not, from what we understand from the relevant departments, no city government departments have received such a notice," Xinhua quoted Jiao as saying in a report posted on China's central government Web site.

Approved by the central government in March 2006, the planned 35 billion yuan ($4.5 billion) maglev project included 175 km (100 miles) of line and trains running at speeds of up to 450 km per hour.

It had been generally believed that the operation would be up and running by 2010, when Shanghai -- which now operates the world's only commercial maglev system on a 30-km line linking its financial district to Pudong international airport -- plays host to the World Expo, Xinhua said.

The Shanghai leg of the proposed maglev route was still being debated and opinions were being collected from experts and residents, Jiao said, including those related to "environmental protection issues".

Shanghai's talks with German suppliers, including Siemens A.G., to extend the high-speed line to Hangzhou have been complicated by recent accidents involving maglev trains and cost concerns.

A maglev train crashed in Germany last year, killing 23 people. In August, one of the maglev trains in Shanghai caught fire, forcing it to be evacuated.

AlertNet news is provided by