Guangshen Railway to Benefit from China's Ministry Railways Adjustmenton National Freight Routing
Appropriate Adjustments Made in Passenger Transport
to Meet Increased Demands During the Spring Festival Peak Season
HONG KONG, Feb. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Effective from January 15, 1999, the Ministry of Railways changed the routing of part of the freight originally conveyed on the Beijing-Guangzhou Rail Line to Beijing-Kowloon Rail Line. Mr. Li Daihua, Chairman of Guangshen Railway Company Limited (NYSE: GSH; Hong Kong Stock Exchange: 525) ("the Company") said: "The Company expects to benefit from this measure for the increased freight volume that pass through Guangshen Rail Line."
The Ministry of Railways divided passenger and freight transport to assign passenger transport mainly on the Beijing-Guangzhou Rail Line and the Beijing-Kowloon Rail Line mainly for freight transport. As Guangshen Rail Line is linked to the Beijing-Kowloon Rail Line at Dongguan Station, the re-routed freight traffic will pass through Guangshen's rail line for approximately 90 kilometers.
According to the new freight routing, the Guangzhou-Dongguan section of Guangshen Rail Line will be the pass-through section for freight going between Beijing-Kowloon Rail Line of Beijing Railway Administration, and the Hechun-Maoming Rail Line, Litang-Zhanjiang Rail Line of Liuzhou Railway Administration and the Sanshui-Maoming Rail Line in the West of Guangdong. Moreover, inbound and outbound freight of Harbin Railway Administration, Shenyang Railway Administration, Beijing Railway Sub-administration, Tianjin Railway Sub-administration to/from the Guangzhou-Sanshui Rail Line of Yangsheng Railway Administration will also pass the Guangzhou-Dongguan Section of Guangshen Rail Line. Currently, the average daily pass-through freight volume on this section is approximately 400 freight cars. It is estimated that there will be a maximum increase of 250 freight cars pass through per day.
In addition, the Spring Festival is the peak period for passenger transportation of the Guangshen Rail Line. Therefore, the Company will adjust its train schedule and fare in view of the anticipated increase in passenger traffic during the 1999 spring period.
The Company's fares for all the extra long distance passenger trains which depart from Guangshen Rail Line under Guangshen's jurisdiction and go across the jurisdiction of Guangzhou Railway (Group) Corporation will be charged pursuant to the Company's special pricing policy based on different sections. Besides, fares for certain sittings in trains during certain periods will also be adjusted and the increase ranges from 10% to 20%. As to the number of trains to be operated during this period, 23 pairs of extra passenger trains will be operated, including 8 pairs of passenger trains in the direction of Beijing-Kowloon Rail Line, 7 pairs in the direction of Beijing-Guangzhou Rail Line, 4 pairs passing through Guangshen Rail Line and 2 additional pairs between Guangzhou and Shenzhen before and after the Spring Festival.
Guangshen Railway Company Limited was incorporated in 1996. It is the only Chinese Railway operator whose shares are listed in Hong Kong and New York. The Company is the sole operator of the Guangshen rail line, which links Guangzhou and Shenzhen. In order to further improve its service, the Company has introduced high-speed passenger trains, and it continues to roll out its high-speed project so as to make Guangshen rail line more advanced and more competitive rail line.
SOURCE Guangshen Railway Company Limited
CO: Guangshen Railway Company Limited |
