2011 Mar 31 Chinese Transport: Planes, Trains, and Missing Money
Travel around China is getting more competitive and, hopefully, cheaper. The government has announced plans to cut back on airline fees, following close on the heels of the Railway Minister’s own announcement that the new Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail’s tickets will undercut flight costs from Beijing to Shanghai. Throw in some name registration announcements and a few missing millions and all bases are covered.
Yesterday, CCNGo reported on government plans to “reduce domestic airline’s jet fuel surcharges on flights within China starting in April.” It’s still up for debate whether flyers will see any benefit or just the airlines.
This came a day after the Shanghaiist reported on another government announcement. According to the new Railway Minister the new Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway will be a cheaper alternative than flying. The vague statement doesn’t offer a number but suggests that this doesn’t apply to non-stop fares but for “trains that will stop at different stations or sections, whose ticket price will surely be lower than plane tickets.”
Unfortunately, since ticket prices will be “calculated by enterprises in accordance with railway construction and operating costs,” which means tickets might be covering additional lost funds discovered by the National Auditing Office. For more on the escaped 187 million see here and here.
Also, expect name registration that has been successful on high-speed trains to soon be applied to long-distance bus travel starting at the Bawangfen long distance bus station (Chinese only).
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