Chinese officials say railway ministry's debt ratio under control (2)

China plans to spend as much as 2.8 trillion yuan on railway infrastructure during the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-2015) as it works to solve transportation problems and boost economic development.
There have been reports in the media that the ministry will scale back its infrastructure investments by 100 billion yuan this year to reduce its debts. These reports cited He Huawu, chief engineer of the ministry.
Sun Zhang, a professor with Tongji University, suggested that the ministry lower the prices of high-speed train tickets prices to attract more customers.
"For now, the high-speed trains don't have many riders, because fares are too high for most Chinese. Many migrant workers, who return annually to their hometowns, cannot afford to buy gifts for their families if they choose to ride the high-speed trains," Sun said.
He supports the ministry's move to decrease operating speeds on its new bullet train lines and to allow more variation in ticket prices based on market demand.
The top speed for some of these high-speed trains will be reduced from 350 kilometers per hour to 300 kilometers per hour, according to the ministry.
"Lowering speeds will not only reduce safety risks, but also help pay for the expensive high-speed rail network by cutting fares and increasing the number of passengers, which could be a solution for reducing debt for the ministry and state-owned rail companies," Sun noted.