China is trying to reach the level of where Japan is today with it's railways. Even the smallest town in Japan is reachable by train. Railways allow better command and control linking resources and manpower and partly because of railways japan was able to reach economic superpower status in the 80's and 90's. It will cost a lot of money even more than what the current debt is but once china reaches the level I think they will follow the text book way like Britain and Japan of privatizing railways and I predict it will be a behemoth privatization maybe even in several parts.
As a broader picture this railway thing in china is only cog in the wheel just like what we building from singapore to KL a small cog in the larger scheme of things maybe during our time we may see train express service from singapore all the way to turkey or middle east.
(12-03-2013, 09:57 AM)sgd Wrote: [ -> ]China is trying to reach the level of where Japan is today with it's railways. Even the smallest town in Japan is reachable by train. Railways allow better command and control linking resources and manpower and partly because of railways japan was able to reach economic superpower status in the 80's and 90's. It will cost a lot of money even more than what the current debt is but once china reaches the level I think they will follow the text book way like Britain and Japan of privatizing railways and I predict it will be a behemoth privatization maybe even in several parts.
As a broader picture this railway thing in china is only cog in the wheel just like what we building from singapore to KL a small cog in the larger scheme of things maybe during our time we may see train express service from singapore all the way to turkey or middle east.
I agree with your view. In fact, there are already discussions on that. There is a good reason WB re-focus back to rail in his investment.
http://www.biznewschina.com/news/2010/ma...-singapore
China could be connected to Europe by a high-speed rail network within the next 10 years, linking Beijing to London with trains capable of running at more than 320 km/h.
Negotiations between China and 17 other countries are currently in progress to assess the viability of the project, which would see a rail network run from London to Beijing and then to Singapore, according to Wang Mengshu, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
Passengers could board a train in London and arrive in Beijing after travelling some 8160 kilometres in just two days.
A second project would carry trains through Russia to Germany and into the European railway system, with a third line heading south to connect Vietnam, Thailand, Burma and Malaysia.
''The best-case scenario is that the three networks will be completed in a decade,'' Mr Wang said.
Will this open up opportunities to private company operating in China?
China to set up S$210 billion railway company
China’s Cabinet has approved the setting up of a railway company with a registered capital of 1.04 trillion yuan (S$210 billion), following the government’s decision to dissolve the scandal-plagued Railways Ministry.
The Ministry of Finance will fund the setting up of the firm, while the Ministry of Transportation and the State Railway Administration will supervise its business and performance, the government said in a statement.
The new company will enjoy favourable policies extended to the Railways Ministry in the past, the government said. New bonds issued to pay for the construction of railways would also be guaranteed by the government.
Deputy central bank governor Liu Shiyu said the new railway company would take over all debt left behind by the defunct ministry.
The ministry’s total outstanding debt hit 2.7 trillion yuan at the end of the third quarter. The government has pledged to open the rail industry to private investment on an unprecedented scale. REUTERS
http://www.todayonline.com/chinaindia/ch...ay-company