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BIZCHINA> News
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Better services will get more people on rails
By Zhen Xiaoyan (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-04-27 09:55 China has a large population and traveling is extremely concentrated during holidays. This requires the transport authorities to enhance capacity during holidays. But the launch of the CRH trains has shortened the time interval between trains, which makes it difficult to add temporary trains during holiday seasons. And the low overloading capacity of CRH trains makes it difficult for the railway service to upgrade its transport capacity in a short space of time. The railway sector may face challenges during peak seasons like the Spring Festival and golden week holidays. Electrification is an important means of railway speedup. Several railway lines have been electrified and CRH trains are mainly equipped with electric engines. The Guangzhou-Shenzhen railway, China's first electrified railway, has stopped operations several times in recent years because of power supply problems. On December 8, 2006, a power problem in Guangzhou led to the cancellation of trains in both directions on the Guangzhou-Shenzhen railway and holding up 2,000 passengers at Guangzhou Railway Station. A constant power supply cannot even be guaranteed on the 147.2-kilometer Guangzhou-Shenzhen railway. Therefore, it would be extremely difficult to guarantee the power supply to thousands of kilometers of railway lines across the country, with any problem having a massive impact and resulting in huge economic losses. Therefore, guaranteeing the normal and safe operation of the power network, especially in the eastern regions where there is a shortage of power supply, is a vital issue. Last but not least, many train stations have to be moved far from downtown areas as a result of the sixth speed upgrade, which greatly increases passengers' off-train travelling time. And long-distance trains will cut their stops at small and medium-level cities, which will cause more transfer problems for passengers from small and medium-level cities. The author works with the Institute of Comprehensive Transportation under the National Development and Reform Commission. (For more biz stories, please visit Industries)
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