Railway Reform: Toolkit for Improving Rail Sector Performance - ppiaf

Railway Reform: Toolkit for Improving Rail Sector Performance
Case Study: China Rail
Case Study
China Rail
1 Railway Sector Structure
1.1 Railway Industry Organization
In China, the Ministry of Railways (MOR) supervises the sector, combining strategy,
policy and regulatory functions and administering China Rail (CR), the network
of infrastructure and transport services operated by the 18 regional rail
authorities (RRAs). The MOR has overall control of policy, technical standards,
planning and investment, finance and system-wide train and rolling stock dispatching.
But the RRAs are responsible for daily management and delivery of
railway infrastructure and rail transport services.
In 1990, MOR controlled almost all railway construction, operation, and manufacturing,
but since then, most non operating elements have been divested or
transferred to other ministries, although MOR still owns and supervises a few
specialized companies related to rail transport.
The railway sector is governed by the 1991 Railway Law, which is similar to railway
laws in many countries. The law has five main components: (i) sector administration;
(ii) commercial arrangements for passenger and freight transport;
(iii) planning, construction standards and opening arrangements; (iv) safety and
protection; (v) legal and associated matters. The Law permits and encompasses
four types of railways (Article 2):
• State railways: administered by the department responsible—MOR
• Local railways: administered by local government authorities, which could
include provincial governments or city administrations
• Industrial railways: administered by industrial enterprises or other units to provide
their own rail transport services, normally within their own boundaries
• Private railway sidings: branch railway lines administered by enterprises or
other units, connected to another railway line
In practice, China Rail carries around 99 percent of passenger-kms and 94 percent
of freight ton-km (2009). Article 3 of the 1991 Railway Law names MOR as
the department responsible for national railway affairs and requires MOR to implement
a centralized and unified traffic control system over the State railway
network, and to guide, coordinate, supervise, and assist local and industrial railways
and private railway sidings. Article 4 of the Law requires MOR to develop
State railways, and to aid and support local railway development. Article 24 en-
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