Transition to a market economy brings tough challenges

摘要

Chinese railways challenges the standard view of the world's railways. Instead of traffic stagnation, financial losses, high government subsidies and internal resistance to change, there is traffic-growth, a stable financial condition, and a strong ability to fund investment from internal resources. There is also a real determination to define restructuring options and begin a process of change well before being forced to do so. Even so, China's railway decision makers face interesting and difficult challenges as they look to the future. A quick review of recent developments there should be of considerable interest to other railways looking at reshaping to meet the demands of the future.