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Ticketing Network to Link Whole Country
Rail travelers will be able to buy tickets to anywhere in the country at any station from October 21 when a computerized sales system is launched.
Sources with the Ministry of Railways said the new system aims to make travelling easier following improvements in journey times.
The ministry plans to bring in the ticket changes in three stages before October.
Major railway stations from Beijing to Shanghai will connect to the new system Thursday in the first phase.
During the second stage, from August 11 to September 10, the Beijing-Harbin, Beijing-Guangzhou, Beijing-Kowloon and Lanzhou-Lianyungang rail lines will be connected to the computer network.
Major cities in Northeast China, South China and western China long these lines will be wired to the system in this phase.
In the third stage, from September 11 to the end of October, other railway stations will join the computerized system.
The whole network is expected to be operational by October 21.
The former sales systems will be abolished when the new nationwide network comes into operation.
The Ministry of Railways also promised to continue to improve its on-train services.
It said it had drawn up detailed service standards and issued them to its subordinate railway bureaux earlier this month.
These new guidelines promise to keep passenger trains clean and comfortable, and make sure toilets are clean.
The ministry promised passengers enough drinking water on trains and said air conditioners would be well maintained.
Inspection teams from the ministry will carry out spot-checks to see if they come up to scratch. Those who fail to do not will have to improve, ministry sources said.
In the first half of this year, the ministry made big profits from its improved passenger services and faster trains. They received 53.6 billion yuan (US$6.4 billion) in income, 9 per cent higher than the first half of 1999.
Passenger trains earned 18.6 billion yuan (US$2.2 billion), a 13.1 per cent increase over the same period last year.
Cargo transportation income reached 27.2 billion yuan (US$3.2 billion), increasing by 5.3 per cent over last year. The rest of revenues came from the sector's sideline business.
Officials said the ministry expects 103 billion yuan (US$12 billion) in railway revenue in 2000.
The ministry said it was continuing to invest heavily in railway construction, spending 15.6 billion yuan (US$1.8 billion) in the first half of this year.
The State plans to invest 100 billion yuan (US$12 billion) in railways through issuing treasury bonds in 2000, the last year of the country's Ninth Five-Year Plan.
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