Residents in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces will find it easier to travel to Shanghai with the extension of the city's rail network to other cities in the Yangtze River Delta in the near future, local authorities said Thursday.

Talks are under way to extend Shanghai's light railway into Suzhou in Jiangsu and Jiaxing in Zhejiang, to make it more convenient for people in these neighboring cities to visit the financial hub both during and after the 2010 World Expo, Huang Rong, director of the municipal urban and rural construction and transportation committee, said in an online chat at local portal eastdays.com.

He said the government is also talking with other cities in the region to further promote transportation integration in the delta.

"Such close transportation links are not only in the interests of the World Expo, but also for the benefit of Yangtze River Delta's regional integration in the long run," he said.

About 30 percent of the estimated 70 million visitors to the World Expo will hail from the Yangtze River Delta, according to Zhou Wei, deputy director of the municipal transportation and port administration bureau.

Making it easier for these people to travel to the city is of critical importance, he said, adding that Shanghai's long-distance coach service is now able to reach all the major counties in the delta.