Yuan said China had a "great leap forward" in spending on railways since 2008 and this is expected to "normalize" in coming years with the completion of major lines such as the Beijing-Guangzhou high-speed link, Bloomberg News reported.
The line will be extended to Hong Kong in the future, Bloomberg said.
The line winds through major inland Chinese cities, including Wuhan and Zhengzhou and competition from the new line for airlines operating Beijing-Wuhan and Beijing-Zhengzhou flights will be intense, China's state television reported.
China Southern is offering discounts up to 73 percent and Air China is offering a 57 percent discount for flights between Beijing and Wuhan on Wednesday, according to company websites.
The railway ministry didn't publish a total investment amount for the high-speed line because it was developed in parts and then connected. The Wuhan-Guangzhou section, which is 1,069 kilometers long and began operating a year ago, cost 116.6 billion yuan.
The 1,318km Shanghai to Beijing link, which opened in June 2011, cost 220.9 billion yuan.
Zhao Chunlei, deputy head of the ministry's transport bureau, said ticket prices on high-speed lines were at appropriate levels based on a market survey.
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