CHINA> Focus
Finding ways out of a rail problem
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-01-20 13:21

Indeed, capacity has been put as a major challenge of the rail network during this time.

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By the end of last year, 79,000 km railways have been put into operation in China, Wang said. China has become the country with the longest railways after the United States (270,000 km) and Russia (more than 100,000 km). But the per capita railway length for Chinese is shorter than a cigarette, at about 6 cm, ranking behind more than 100 countries, he said.

As railways have the advantage of lower prices, trains are also the top choice of transport for many travelers. Whenever railway capacity is increased, the added capacity is usually swiftly taken up by demand, Wang said.

According to Beijing Jiaotong University's Ji Jialun, train tickets also cost less than long-haul buses.

For example, a 500-km bus trip from Beijing to Heze in Shandong province costs 200 yuan, but the train ticket for the same journey is only a little above 40 yuan, he said.

The train tickets are low because the railways are run by the government and people tend to regard it as a public welfare entitlement, he said.

To solve these "fundamental problems", the railway administration is now speeding up the construction of railways and aiming to extend the railway network to 120,000 km by 2020.

"When China's railways stretch to 100,000 km long by 2012, it could ease the pressure during the chunyun period," Minister of Railways Liu Zhijun told an annual working conference on Dec 31.

A fast passenger transport network will take shape by then, with bullet trains going at 200 to 350 kmh on tracks parallel to that of cargo transport.

Despite all these solutions provided by the ministry and experts, many are reportedly still unhappy with the current ticket distribution procedure, saying it is not transparent and open.

A survey by Sina.com earlier this month showed 47.3 percent of the respondents believed securing a train ticket in the chunyun period required "influence and unfair advantages".