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Better services will get more people on rails
By Zhen Xiaoyan (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-04-27 09:55

Before the air sector took off, the railways occupied the leading position in medium and long-distance transportation. But now this dominant status is under threat. The market share of the air sector in journeys over 1,000 kilometer increased to 35 percent last year from 7 percent in 1985.

Against such a background, the railway service should make the best use of its advantage to compete for medium-distance travelers. In terms of short-distance traveling, the railways cannot compete with road transport, which boasts a convenient road network. And in terms of long-distance traveling, it cannot compete with air transport, which boasts the highest speeds.

Air transportation cannot reach many smaller cities. At present there is a huge passenger flow between urban and rural areas. Medium-distance transportation to secondary-level cities and towns is not convenient. There is a huge demand for medium and low-end traveling. Therefore, the railway network should be expanded to cover more county-level cities.

On the other hand, it remains a question whether CRH trains can meet the concentrated travelling demand during holidays.

Domestically manufactured high-speed CRH trains are being used for the sixth speed upgrade. But the passenger capacity of inter-city CRH trains only equals about half that of ordinary passenger trains. The axle load of CRH trains is relatively light, meaning that their overloading capacity is weak. The CRH trains can hardly meet the concentrated demand during holiday periods.


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