Despite much strained capacity, Chinese railways have managed to
increase transport of key materials.
The railways shipped 480 million tons of coal in the first half
of this year, up 12.2 percent over the same period last year.
Shipments of grain increased 13.1 percent to 55.6 million tons,
while those of chemical fertilizer and other materials for
agricultural use rose 5.6 percent to 33.3 million tons, and oil
climbed 12.1 percent to 58.7 million tons, according to the
Ministry of Railways.
An official said the ministry regards ensuring the transport of
key materials as a major political task and has always put the
state interests above everything else. It has adopted a series of
special measures to ensure the fulfillment of this task.
The ministry has allocated 90 percent of its freight capacity to
guarantee the transport of key materials such as grain, coal and
chemical fertilizer.
The railway ministry is also raising train speed and increasing
freight load.
The official pointed out the importance of the railways to the
health of the nation's economy.
"As railway freight of key materials continues to grow, grain
prices are stabilized and shortage of coal is alleviated," he
said.
Vice Minister of Railways Hu Yadong has said that there is an
urgent need to speed the construction of new railways and the
modernization of rolling stock to end the shortfall of railway
freight capacity.
China's railways in operation account for only 6 percent of the
world's total, yet they handle 25 percent of the world's freight
volume. All the major trunk lines have been operating at full
capacity.
Due to the serious shortfall in capacity, only one-third of
demand can be met at present, according to the ministry.
(Xinhua News Agency July 30, 2004)