It may have taken years for the Beijing-Shanghai high speed railway to get the official go-ahead. But it's taken just a few months for officials to decide who should build the massive project.

The Ministry of Railway's Project Tendering Center says that out of 15 eager contenders, six construction groups, all Chinese, have won the bid.

Building of the more than 1,300-kilometer-long railway will be divided into six phases, with total investment set to reach about 100 billion yuan. Construction should start soon, with completion scheduled by the end of five years.

The high-speed link will cut travel time between Beijing and Shanghai by more than half, from the current 12 hours to less than five hours.