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Members of the California-Nevada Super Speed Train Commission recently took a trip on the first revenue service magnetic-levitation train in Shanghai, giving commissioners a firsthand look at the type of system that one day could be in service between Las Vegas and southern California.

Commission members believe aspects of the Chinese system’s engineering and design could provide a template for the 269-mile proposed California-to-Nevada Maglev train, according to a prepared statement.

The Shanghai system currently is open for weekend-only service, but officials plan to begin full-time service in early 2004. The trains reach a top speed of 268 mph, completing a 20-mile trip from downtown Shanghai to Pudong International Airport in about seven-and-a-half minutes.

The Shanghai system cost $1.2 billion to build, but commission officials believe the California-to-Nevada system would be cheaper per mile to construct because Shanghai’s system is mostly located in marshland.

The California-to-Nevada project is expected to relieve congestion on Interstate 15.