As the 3,000 person National People’s Congress meets for its annual session and spectacle in Beijing, major shakeups are happening in China’s railway industry. Caixin Online reports on new plans just announced to turn the CCP’s Ministry of Railways into a single, unnamed, state owned enterprise (SOE). All 18 of the Ministry’s bureaus and its three private companies are to be considered assets of the new SOE, and its initial capital will be 1.036 trillion Yuan (167 billion dollars). What does this mean for the continent building project that is China’s railway development? The answer is impossible to tease out, but a few angles need to be examined

 

Looming largest is the major corruption scandal that hit the Railway Ministry in February 2011, when Minister Liu Zhijun and two top deputies were detained and investigated for “severe violations of discipline.” One of deputies, Luo Jinbao, was put on trial in late December of last year, accused of taking $7.5 million in bribes, cars, and property, as well as illegally owning a (single) shotgun. While the results of the trial have yet to be announced, he will almost certainly be found guilty, and may face execution. Such a penalty was the fate of Shen Chungfu, director of the Chongqing branch of China Mobile. Despite being the head of the world’s largest cell phone company in the world’s largest city, Shen was taken down in the same corruption purge as Luo, put on trial in November 2011, and will be killed within two years.

 

The trial date for Liu, who had been Minister of Railways since 2003, is unknown. However, it will certainly be high profile event, as Liu was the face of the Chinese rail boom of the 2000’s. While the U.S. was busy waging war, Beijing decided it was about time to cover Eurasia in railroad tracks, and high-speed ones to boot. Since 2008, when China completed its first high-speed line for the Olympics, the Ministry has built 5,809 miles of high-speed track, and more than ten times that amount or regular rail track. Liu also signed deals with a large number of other Eurasian countries to build international rail lines, and since 2011 the German national rail company, Deustche Bahn, has been running everyday overland rail transport between China and Western Europe. Without a doubt, Liu’s Ministry was an empire builder. Do the new plans to turn the ministry into an SOE signal a shift, a purge not only of people but of policy as well?

 

Finally, it is absolutely critical to question whether new reforms will help lead to better safety and good governance in Chinese rail development. Liu garnered a nickname as Little Leap Liu, as people thought his policies progressed to quickly, breeding corruption and shoddy work. There has been only one major high-speed rail crash, but charges are common that the Ministry cut corners when building so many miles of track so quickly. And as railroads have already become the dominant method of transport for domestic travel in China and are quickly gaining large parts of the market share for international trade, their proper and safe functioning is close to a global imperative. Industry depends on it, as do the 1.3 billion Chinese people and the millions of Kazakhs and Turks and Burmese and others whose countries are working with Beijing on railroad projects. It is not out of the question to call it the new backbone of the global economy. Will changing the Ministry of Railways into an SOE help put an end to shoddy workmanship and corruption? Definitely not. Will it help? Possibly. But regardless, it is a development that needs to be closely followed.

 

 

 

 

 

Beijing's latest round of government restructuring kicked off yesterday with the establishment of the China Railway Corporation, after the consolidation plan to cut bureaucratic red tape was approved by the legislature.

However, doubts remained as to whether the revamp will make a substantial difference, as the number of cabinet-level ministries was reduced by just two, from 27 to 25.

 

The new corporation will run the commercial operations of the Railways Ministry, with registered capital of nearly 1.04 trillion yuan (HK$1.29 trillion), and will also inherit its assets and 2.66 trillion yuan worth of outstanding liabilities, Xinhua reported, citing a State Council document.

 

The last railways minister, Sheng Guangzu, was named general manager of the new state-owned corporation, the official news agency said.

 

Meanwhile, existing loan policies to support the ministry, along with the credit status of bonds it has issued, would remain unchanged under the new organisation.

 

Dozens, if not hundreds of people gathered around the gate at the front of the scandal-plagued ministry's compound yesterday to snap photos of the name plate, which was expected to be replaced last night, concluding its 63-year history.

 

Transport Minister Yang Chuantang said "a new page has turned" for the mainland's transport networks, and he promised a "seamless transition" as his ministry takes over the administrative duties of the Railways Ministry.

 

However, some National People's Congress delegates remained sceptical over the impact of the plan.

 

Yuan Zhilun, chairman of the Bosai Minerals Group headquartered in Chongqing, said he was worried that commercialisation of the railways sector would lead to a significant increase in transportation costs.

 

"It is hard to predict the impact on the public, as it remains to be seen whether the government will cut its subsidies and funding for railways," Yuan said.

 

Yang said the price-setting of rail tickets would continue to be handled by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the nation's top economic planner.

 

Professor Zhu Lijia , of the Chinese Academy of Governance, warned that vested interests could water down the effectiveness of the restructuring.

 

"Nobody dares to blatantly obstruct the implementation [of the plan] once it is endorsed by the legislature, but behind-doors trading of interests is totally possible … so the restructuring might not live up to expectations," he said.

 

Zhao Jun , of China National Building Materials Group and also a delegate to the NPC, called the cabinet overhaul "a good start", but said it did not address the most pressing problem as the powerful NDRC had escaped unscathed.

 

"The NDRC should be the first to be dismantled, but instead its power is being expanded this time," Zhao said.

 

Others said the plan to merge government agencies was simply "selling old wine in a new bottle". Some social-networking users expressed concerns that no substantial reform would take place due to power struggles between government agencies.

 

"What kind of reform do you expect if they do not even want their names changed?" one wrote on a Sina microblog.

 

Yuan also said it was regretful that the two media regulators were not integrated with the Ministry of Culture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beijing will open a new subway line and complete the extension of an existing line in May, the latest move to improve transport infrastructure in the southern part of the city, municipal authorities said.

The first phase of Line 14, and the last two stations to complete the circular Line 10, will begin operation on May 5, said Lu Zongcun, a senior planner of Beijing MTR Construction Administration Corp, which builds Beijing's subway lines.

 

The western section of Line 14 will be operational in time to service crowds attending the 9th China (Beijing) International Garden Expo, which is scheduled to begin on May 18, Lu said on Friday.

 

One of the line's seven stations will be named Garden Expo Station, and the line will connect Beijing's Fengtai district to the downtown area, with its 12.4-kilometer track.

 

The last two stations of Line 10, Fengtai Station and Niwa Station, will open in May. Once completed, Line 10 will operate in a full circle, becoming Beijing's second subway loop line and the longest line in the city, according to the city's transport authority.

 

The southern area of Beijing has long been the poorer side of town, with weaker transport infrastructure. In 2010, the municipal government launched a three-year plan to boost development of the area, including measures to improve transport.

 

According to a statement from the municipal government, five new subway lines, including the Daxing and Yizhuang lines, have opened in the past three years, increasing the length of subway lines in the southern area to 118 km.

 

Before the development plan, only two subway lines, Line 4 and Line 5, serviced the capital's southern suburbs.

 

Extending the subway lines has improved transport in southern parts of the city. Data from the Beijing Mass Transit Railway Operation Corp showed that on Friday, 184,000 trips were taken on the Yizhuang Line and 309,000 on the Daxing Line. But there have been complaints from commuters in online forums that transportation in southern parts of the city still lags behind services provided in the north.

 

Xiao Fang, a resident of Yizhuang, said the subway stations are often overcrowded.

 

"So many people take the Yizhuang Line every day. During rush hours I sometimes can't get on the train. The 7-minute interval between trains on the line is also too long," he said.

 

Xiao said he hopes the government will extend the operation times of the Yizhuang Line.

 

This year, Beijing will start construction on three new lines - the third phase of Line 8, Line 16 and the Yanfang Line, with most stations located in southern parts of the city, said Lu.

 

He said planning and design work on the New Airport Express, a line connecting Beijing's urban area to the new airport in the southern Daxing district, will begin this year.

 

In 2013, Beijing will start a new three-year plan for its southern area. By the end of 2015, the city will have 13 subway lines servicing residents in the area, with total length of those subway lines reaching 225 km, according to Beijing Evening News.

 

According to a statement from the municipal government, under the development plan the construction of six main roads connecting the southern and downtown areas is also under way.

 

 

 

  

 

Dongzhimen subway station is considering offering airport check-in service, where passengers can check in their luggage and get a boarding pass, Beijing Morning Post reported on Friday, citing a source at Beijing airport express.

 

Construction of an airport check-in hall inside the subway station would involve multiple parties, and the subway company would be mainly responsible for organizing the traffic flow of passengers, said Chen Youjun, a station director of Beijing airport express.

 

Beijing airport express handles daily traffic of around 32,000 passengers, and 50,800 at peak times such as national holidays, and summer and winter school breaks.

 

Trains leave Dongzhimen station, the starting point of a 26.1-kilometer line, every 10 minutes and run through four stops before arriving at Beijing Capital International Airport in Shunyi district, in northeast Beijing.

 

At present, in-town check-in service is available in Abu Dhabi, Seoul, Hong Kong and other cities, where passengers can avoid queuing at the airport and reduce check-in time by checking luggage in designated places within the city but outside the airport.

 

 

 

 

On March 8, two months after four new lines started operation, Beijing's 16 metro lines have completed more than ten million passenger rides per day, officially making it the busiest subway in the world, Beijing Morning Post reported.

 

Four lines, including Line 6 (first phase), Line 10 (second phase), Line 8 (south) and Line 9 (north), started running. So far Beijing has a total of 16 lines with an operational length of 442 kilometers; the number of stations currently stands at 261, including 36 transfer stations. Compared to 2002, the Beijing subway has added 388 kilometers to its tracks.

 

As the number of kilometers increased, the travelers also increased. In 2002, there were 1.32 million subway rides per day. Last year, this number went up to eight million, an all-time high. Until March 1, the number of rides went as high as nine million per day. On March 8, this record broke the ten million mark, surpassing Moscow to become the busiest subway on the planet.

 

"We probably will often see the number of ten million this year," Zhan Minghui, head of Beijing's track traffic control center, said.

 

The Line 1 and Batong lines' passenger pressure have been eased, according to some Beijing citizens interviewed by Beijing Morning Post. Zhan said the new lines help doing so. For new lines, Zhan noted, the Line 6 train will have eight cars, offering the biggest capacity for trains serving on the Beijing subway.

 

For the heaviest-pressured Line 10, the subway operational company has applied for 17 additional trains. And the time gaps between two trains will be shortened to two minutes, Zhan said, which will allow for more passengers to board and go.

 

Zhan also added that to ensure passengers' safety, the subway company installed a great amount of video monitors and will limit the passengers' entry at a proper time if necessary.

 

According to him, by 2016, Beijing will open more lines to ease traffic pressure and help new areas in the city develop. Its track-mileage will be extended to 663 kilometers.

 

 

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Beijing will further limit the number of rush-hour subway passengers and increase vehicle capacity to cope with the growing pressure on the network, said the city's transport authority.

 

In addition, construction of new subway lines will be accelerated to cope with the soaring number of passengers, according to the Beijing Transport Commission.

 

The authorities will also take steps to help guide passengers and prevent crushes and stampedes.

 

Zhan Minghui, director of the city's rail transit command center, said: "As the capital is more likely to witness a daily passenger flow of 10 million subway riders, the metro system should further extend its capacity."

 

According to the commission, Beijing's subway lines witnessed a record number of passengers on March 8, with 10.27 million people using the city's rail transit network.

 

Four of the capital's subway lines carried more than 1 million passengers that day, and the peak passenger flow on Line 10 exceeded 1.69 million, the commission said.

 

Considering that March does not normally see the peak passenger flow, the network's passenger flow may exceed 10 million more often in the future, especially from July to September, when it is at its busiest, said Zhan.

 

Zhan said one of the reasons for the significant boost is the increase in the number of subway lines in recent years.

 

There were only two subway lines in the city in 2002, with a total track length of 54 kilometers and 41 stations.

 

However, as Beijing put four new lines into operation on Dec 30, the total track length reached 442 km, with 261 stations and 36 transit stations.

 

The country's longest subway network will further extend its length to 561 km by 2015, with 19 lines. Its total length is expected to reach 1,000 km by 2020.

 

However, some residents said that despite the increase in the number of subway lines, they did not feel that riding the subway was any easier or more convenient.

 

"Despite the increase in subway lines and the network's improved capacity, subway cars are still too crowded and sometimes it's hard to squeeze in a car during the rush hour," said Feng Xiuqing, a 27-year-old accountant.

 

The morning and evening rush hours account for around 40 percent of daily passenger volume, Zhan said.

 

In addition, the capital's permanent resident population has soared in recent years.

 

According to the Beijing Population and Family Planning Commission, the capital's permanent resident population in the capital reached 20.69 million by the end of 2012, a 2.5 percent year-on-year increase.

 

The commission said the city's subway system has launched restrictions on passenger flow at three more stations so far this year - Hujialou, Shuangjing and Jinsong.

 

Passenger flow limits are in force at 43 stations across the Beijing Subway.

 

More police officers have been sent to traffic hubs to protect passenger safety and avoid stampedes, according to Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau.

 

Zhan added that the cars on subway lines currently under construction will have improved capacity.

 

 

 

 

Beijing subway has become one of the busiest in the world in terms of daily passenger journeys, Beijing Subway Company (BSC) said Wednesday.

 

On Friday, subway passenger flow exceeded 10.27 million trips, according to BSC's Sina microblog, the first time the number of daily journeys has topped 10 million. The previous record was 8.39 million trips set in April, 2012.

 

With the opening of Phase 1 of Line 14, the interchange between lines 9 and 1, and the completion of Line 10, expected later this year, passenger flows of 10 million-plus could become normal, the Legal Mirror reported Wednesday.

 

Commuters said they now fear taking the subway could be as slow and congested as driving on the roads.

 

A female resident surnamed Song, 30, said that she now takes Line 10 every day from Guomao Subway Station to Zhichunlu Subway Station. For Song, the Line 10 extension, which opened in December 2012, was a disaster.

 

"I need to wait for about five trains to get on at Guomao during rush hours, which makes me anxious," she said, "but I still have to use the subway because of the severe traffic jams on the road."

 

Line 10 has become by far the busiest of the current 16 lines in the city. BSC plans to add more trains and reduce the waiting time for trains on Line 10 from 2 minutes 30 seconds to 2 minutes, the Beijing Evening News reported Wednesday.

 

Another resident surnamed Zhao, 29, said he might consider riding a bike in future if the subway gets more crowded.

 

"Although Beijing subway is quite advanced, and I can travel cheaply and on time, given the high passenger flow, cycling might be a good alternative to save time on queuing," said Zhao.

 

An anonymous employee from the administration office of BSC said that there were several reasons for the high passenger flows on Friday.

 

"Beijing Guoan played a football match that day, which added to the regular Friday peak time traffic," she said.

 

Meng Bin, professor of urban planning at Beijing Union University, said that the intensity of subway use is because passengers have become more reliant on this form of transportation.

 

"But it is unknown whether the problem of heavy passenger flows can be solved through building more lines and adding more stations. I think building new lines and stations will increase the passenger numbers but this may decrease the density of passengers at every station and on every line," said Meng.

 

A system glitch caused trains on Metro Line 2 to drive at a slower speed during the rush hour this morning.

 

Commuters packed the interchange corridor linking Metro Line 2 and Line 11 at Jiangsu Road Station and Metro workers used loudspeakers to guide passengers to an exit in the corridor.

 

Shanghai Metro Operator said on its microblog that the trains were traveling with longer intervals between Songhong Road Station and East Xujing Station due to the glitch in this section.

 

The microblog renewed at 8:53am said the glitch had been fixed and the operation had returned to normal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A LOCAL commuter was shocked to find his public transport card had a balance of more than 42 million yuan (US$6.76 million) when he swiped his card while leaving a Metro station - an amount the subway operator said was a malfunction.

Jim Wang took a picture of the huge sum displayed on the screen at an exit and posted it on the Internet on Saturday.

 

"Shanghai Metro, you are just too mighty," Wang said in a Weibo post, which was soon retweeted over 300 times, accompanied by envious comments from other netizens and joking suggestions that he cash in his card.

 

The screen shows "Remaining fund: 42,949,672.76 yuan" and "Please exit, you are welcome to take the Shanghai Metro again," according to the picture posted by Wang.

 

Not so fast, the operator said.

 

"The traffic card can only hold a maximum of 1,000 yuan and can never have so much money," an official said yesterday.

 

The operator said the data system of the card was broken, making it display the series of numbers. The card could still be used for the actual amount on it and it won't go higher, the official said.

 

But a computer expert gave a different explanation on Weibo. "The number is a bug which will happen when the card is owed 0.2 yuan."

 

The number displayed on the screen was 2 to the power of 32, divided by 100, the expert said.

 

Error happened before

 

Exorbitant remaining funds were also found by commuters in Beijing and Chengdu. The numbers displayed were the same, according to reports.

 

A Beijing citizen surnamed Ge found his transport card telling him he was 42 million yuan richer at a machine in Beijing in 2008. Ge, in shock and surprise, called police.

 

The Beijing Metro operator explained that all the traffic cards that owe money will show the huge balance on some machines with the older version of a program.

 

A commuter in Chengdu in southwest China's Sichuan Province put 10 yuan on his transport card at a store, where he got a receipt for a 42 million yuan balance in April.

 

The Chengdu Metro operator gave him a new card.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Riders of metro lines 3 and 4 should expect more delays, crowds, and headaches when maintenance operations begin later this month.

According to Shanghai Shentong Metro Group, several trains will be taken out of service at a time to undergo "frame repairs." Passengers should anticipate reduced frequencies on both lines across the board. The revised timetables have not yet been finalized.

 

The operating authority is exploring passenger restriction measures, such as erecting barriers outside stations, which probably will have minimal impact at best.

 

Lines 3 and 4 partially overlap routes between Baoshan Road Station in the northeast and Yishan Road Station in the southwest. Line 4, which loops around the city, is one of the three busiest lines in the metro system.

 

The recent opening of the first phase of line 13 is expected to further vex congestion on lines 3 and 4, particularly at Jingshajiang Road Station where the line currently terminates. Ultimately, the repairs will have ripple effects on the entire public transportation system as passengers seek alternate routes.

 

More bad news: repair operations are scheduled to be completed by the end of 2015.

 

 

 

 

 

CNR Dalian's second-generation diesel locomotives built for New Zealand railway rolled off the production line in Dalian, a port city of Northeastern China's Liaoning Province, March 13, 2013.

High-levels from New Zealand railway company attended the handover ceremony on Wednesday, giving a high appraisal on the quality of these locomotives, and also expressed their intention to sign a cooperative contract on the third generation diesel locomotives.

 

Dalian Locomotive, a subsidiary of China North Locomotive and Rolling Corp. Ltd. (CNR), delivered a total of 20 first-generation diesel locomotives to New Zealand for the first time in December, 2010.

 

CNR Dalian also signed an agreement with New Zealand railway company to export 20 locomotives in June, 2011, making it China's first continuous bulk export to a developed country.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Indian companies can meet their social responsibility requirements by providing money for the improvement of the country’s railway stations, railway minister P.K. Bansal told the Lok Sabha, which passed the rail budget on Wednesday.

 

“Those corporate houses which spend over Rs.2 crore to provide facilities at a railway station will have a plaque in their name,” Bansal said during his reply to the debate on the railway budget for 2013-14.

 

Indian Railways, facing a resource crunch, is looking to tap the provision in the Companies Bill 2011 that makes it mandatory for corporates to set aside 2% of profit as part of corporate social responsibility (CSR).

 

Bansal also defended the increase in service charges announced in the budget on 26 February, citing the need for balanced development of Indian Railways, which has limited resources.

 

He hinted at a further increase in cancellation fees.

 

“Ticket bookings are open for 120 days and these agents buy the tickets in bulk and sell them for 119 days and return the unsold ones on the last day,” he said. “These charges will have to be increased gradually to tackle this menace and ensure that genuine travellers get tickets to travel.” The budget effected an average increase of 50% in service charges such as reservation and cancellation fees. Freight charges were raised by 5% across commodities. Bansal also announced the introduction of 19 new additional trains amid opposition protests.

 

Sushma Swaraj, leader of the opposition, accused the minister of ignoring states ruled by opposition parties. The opposition staged a walkout as the rail budget was passed.

 

Bansal rejected the accusations about discrimination.

 

“There is no discrimination. We want a balanced development of the railways for the entire country,” he said. “We cannot indulge in financial profligacy. We cannot indulge in the luxury which was resorted to earlier (referring to the railway budget presented by the Trinamool Congress, now in the opposition).” The minister also touched on the issue of monetizing the land belonging to the railways and added that it will soon issue details on how it will be used for generating revenue.

 

Bansal reiterated the ministry’s resolve to improve railways’ operating ratio to 87.8% in 2013-14 from 88.8% in the current fiscal. He added that efforts would be made to bring the operating ratio down to 80%.

 

Parvesh Minocha, managing director for transportation at consulting firm Feedback Infra, said, “While using CSR for upgrading infrastructure is welcome, it will provide only fringe benefits. What is needed is a structural solution that can come through serious public-private partnership (PPP). PPP will also help lower the operating ratio of the railways considerably.”