News
China abolishes Ministry of Railways
David Briginshaw Editor in chief
C
HINA is to push ahead with the abolition the Ministry of Railways (MOR), following a report submitted by state councillor Mr Ma Kai to the national legislator on March 10. The ministry’s administrative functions will be transferred the State Railways Administration, part of the Ministry of Transport, while a new China Railway Corporation (CRC) has been established to operate the national railway under the leadership of the final minister of railways Mr Sheng Guangzu.
China has dismantled the MOR into administrative and commercial arms in a bid to break its monopoly and improve efficiency. “After separating the administrative functions from the commercial functions, we can carry out more market research, better adapt to the market, provide preferable services to customers and have more room for development,” says Sheng. “Whether I’m minister of railways or not does not matter. The key is to develop China’s railways. I’m subordinate to the needs of the national cause.”
CRC is a wholly state- owned enterprise
administered by the central government and will take over the related assets, liabilities and personnel of the MOR. It has a registered capital of Yuan 1.04 trillion ($US 166.8bn) which will come from 18 regional railway administrative bureaus across China, three logistics companies and the other companies formerly belonging to the MOR.
CRC will continue to enjoy favourable tax and other preferential policies formerly granted to the MOR. Bonds issued for railway construction will continue to be supported by the government and the Yuan 2.3 trillion ($US 369bn)
2011-2015 railway construction programme will continue as planned. However, the government will not allow CRC to turn over gains made from state- owned assets until the huge debts accumulated by the former MOR are properly dealt with. MOR’s debt-to- asset ratio reached 61.8% by September 2012 with debts of Yuan 2.66 trillion compared with assets of Yuan 4.3 trillion. Sheng says the MOR’s debts will be divided between the Ministry of Transport and the new railway depending on whether they relate to public or commercial investment projects.
Paris - Barcelona TGV services to begin this month F
RENCH National Railways (SNCF) and Spanish passenger operator Renfe have reached an agreement to start direct TGV services between Paris and Barcelona this month. At present SNCF offers a twice-daily TGV Dasye service from Paris to Figueres, while Renfe serves its side of the border with two Madrid - Barcelona - Figueres AVE trains which are timed to connect with the TGV service. These services will be replaced this month with the extension of TGVs to the Catalan capital, offering a Paris - Barcelona journey time of 6h 20min.
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on the Spanish section will be reserved for Renfe’s Avant regional high-speed brand to make domestic high-speed travel for Spanish commuters more affordable.
New services will also begin this month between Barcelona and Toulouse using at least four Renfe AVE 100 high- speed trains. The sets have been modified and were recently tested on the French network.
A third TGV will run at weekends.
The extended TGV services will use the new Barcelona - French border high-speed line which was inaugurated in
January, and will stop at the new stations at Figueres and Girona, while also serving Perpignan, Narbonne, Montpellier, Nîmes and Valence in France. Some seats
SNCF and Renfe are set to announce the launch of several other new services between Barcelona and destinations in southern France in the coming weeks.
IRJ April 2013
Photo: Xinhua
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