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Sound financials recharge China's fast trains - MarketWatch
BEIJING (Caixin Online) -- Four of the nation's 14 high-speed rail lines have financially broken even since bullet trains started full-speed, intercity service in China two years ago, giving impetus to a Ministry of Railways expansion.Passenger ticket revenues have so far matched expenses -- including debt payments -- for the busy Beijing-Tianjin, Shanghai-Nanjing, Beijing-Shanghai and Shanghai-Hangzhou lines, a source at the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) told Caixin.Moreover, the financial health of the Beijing-Shanghai line exceeded expectations during its first operating year, which ended in June, sources told Caixin.
Passenger ticket revenues have so far matched expenses -- including debt payments -- for the busy Beijing-Tianjin, Shanghai-Nanjing, Beijing-Shanghai and Shanghai-Hangzhou lines, a source at the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) told Caixin.
Moreover, the financial health of the Beijing-Shanghai line exceeded expectations during its first operating year, which ended in June, sources told Caixin.
Some notes:
After getting a green light from the government's chief economic planners at NDRC, the rail ministry said July 30 it would spend 470 billion yuan this year on high-speed railways. That represented a 14% increase in spending from a previous budget plan.
On the negative side, China Railways is still following a policy of high ticket prices on new lines, leading to public debate. *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
First, all other 300 km/h lines connect to (or are inside) one of China's three big economic centres: the Beijing area, the Yangtze River Delta (Shanghai etc.) and the Pearl River Delta (Guangzhou etc.). Through connections to these areas should represent demand of the same magnitude as connections within the Zhengzhou-Xi'an corridor. Hence, I expect a major boost for the line from the other lines to Zhengzhou. It is instructive to look at the current situation:
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