Lu Dongfu, deputy to the National People’s Congress： Strive to promote the high-quality development of railways and celebrate the 100 th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CP
Railway is an important national transportation infrastructure and a major livelihood project, which has always been concerned by all walks of life, delegates and members attending the meeting. Recently, Lu Dongfu, deputy to the National People’s Congress, chairman and party secretary of China State Railway Group Co.,Ltd., accepted an exclusive interview with CCTV reporters and introduced the relevant situation of promoting the high-quality development of railways.
Photo courtesy of China State Railway Group Co.,Ltd.
Focus on making up shortcomings, preventing risks and promoting railway construction with high quality.
Lu Dongfu introduced that during the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" period, China State Railway Group Co.,Ltd. adhered to the spirit of the important instructions of the Supreme Leader General Secretary on railway work, and promoted railway construction in a scientific, orderly, safe and high-quality manner. The national railway operating mileage increased from 121,000 kilometers at the end of the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" to 146,300 kilometers, an increase of 20.9%, of which the high-speed rail increased from 19,800 kilometers to 37,900 kilometers, nearly doubling, "four vertical and four horizontal" Especially in 2020, we will conscientiously implement the deployment requirements of "increasing the national railway construction capital by 100 billion yuan" in the Government Work Report, effectively respond to the impact and impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, and the national railway capital construction investment will exceed the level of 2019, which has made important contributions to the "six guarantees" and the implementation of the "six guarantees" task.
Lu Dongfu introduced that the implementation of the "Proposal" of the 14 th Five-Year Plan of the Central Committee, during the 14 th Five-Year Plan period, the railway construction task is still very heavy, and the scale of projects under construction and approved is 3.19 trillion yuan; By 2025, the national railway mileage will reach about 170,000 kilometers, including about 50,000 kilometers of high-speed rail (including intercity railway). Railways basically cover cities with urban population of more than 200,000, and high-speed rail covers 98% of cities with urban population of more than 500,000. The railway department will more consciously use the new development concept to guide railway construction and strive to achieve high-quality development.
First, insist on making up the shortcomings. Closely connect with the national strategy, focus on organizing and implementing trunk projects that serve the national strategy and land development, take into account existing trunk channel reinforcement, comprehensive transportation hub supporting, undertaking "transit railway" transportation and other short-board projects, and strive to improve investment efficiency and the overall function of the road network.
The second is to persist in doing our best to do what we can. Coordinate the regional economic and social development, the overall planning and layout of the road network, the guarantee of construction funds and other factors, taking into account the needs and possibilities. On the one hand, we will maintain a certain investment intensity and further exert the pulling effect of railway construction investment, on the other hand, we will pay more attention to the efficiency and benefit of railway investment, reasonably control the scale of railway construction debts, prevent debt risks and ensure the high-quality and sustainable development of railway construction.
The third is to adhere to the construction of classification and stratification. Implement the principle of the division of powers between the central and local governments, and adhere to the principle of "who makes decisions, who raises funds, who benefits and who subsidizes". China State Railway Group Co.,Ltd. is mainly responsible for the construction of national trunk railways that belong to the common powers of the central and local governments. For intercity railways and feeder railways, the local governments mainly contribute to the construction and bear the responsibility of investment decision-making. China State Railway Group Co.,Ltd. gives full play to its professional and technical advantages and provides help and support.
Lu Dongfu specially introduced that sichuan-tibet railway is a century-long strategic project planned, deployed and promoted by the Supreme Leader General Secretary, and China State Railway Group Co.,Ltd. regards it as the "number one project" of railway construction, and promotes it with the strength of the whole industry. Since the construction started on November 8 last year, all participating units have mobilized elite teachers to overcome many difficulties and quickly form a tough situation. Since the beginning of winter, including the Spring Festival, the contractors have not gone down the mountain in winter construction. At present, the tunnel projects of "two tunnels and one bridge" (Sejilashan Tunnel, Kangding No.2 Tunnel and Daduhe Bridge) which started in advance have all been transferred to the tunnel construction, and the bridge foundation construction has been fully carried out, forming a good pilot demonstration effect; Bidding is being organized for 186 kilometers from Ya ‘an to xinduqiao and 151 kilometers from Bomi to Linzhi, and construction can be started at the end of March; Xinduqiao-Bomi 674km is under special technical review, and preliminary design review is carried out in the near future, so as to bid in August and meet the conditions for construction in the fourth quarter. We will further improve our political stance, strengthen our responsibility, resolutely run the sichuan-tibet railway project, and never live up to the trust and trust of the Supreme Leader General Secretary.
Do a good job in transportation support under the condition of normalization of epidemic prevention and control
Lu Dongfu introduced that in recent years, with the continuous expansion of the high-speed rail network, railway passenger transport has maintained a rapid growth momentum for more than 10 years. During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, the number of national railway passengers sent reached 14.9 billion, of which 9 billion were sent by EMUs, up by 41% and 152% respectively compared with the 12th Five-Year Plan period. At the same time, measures such as e-tickets, face-brushing verification, online seat selection, online ordering, etc. have been continuously introduced, and service guarantee measures for the elderly and off-line people have been implemented, so that watching China on the high-speed train has become a true portrayal of the vast number of tourists enjoying a beautiful travel life. The outbreak of COVID-19 epidemic has had a great impact on railway passenger transport. In 2020, the national railway passenger traffic decreased by 39% year-on-year. In order to cope with the epidemic, this year we put forward and implemented the business strategy of "insufficient long-distance transportation, insufficient spring tour in Spring Festival travel rush, insufficient winter in summer and insufficient passenger transportation", and achieved positive results. In the first two months, the passenger traffic completed by the railway decreased by 4.5% year-on-year, but the passenger traffic in the pipeline increased by 3.3% year-on-year. In the next step, we will use big data to accurately implement "one map a day", scientifically allocate transportation resources, organize spring outing and summer passenger transportation, and better adapt to the travel needs of the broad masses of people under the situation of epidemic prevention and control.
Railways can make more contributions to peak carbon dioxide emissions and transportation emission reduction in China.
Lu Dongfu introduced that the central government’s decision to adjust the transportation structure and increase the railway freight volume was implemented, and the railway department intensified the structural reform of the freight supply side. In 2016, the railway freight volume bottomed out and maintained a sustained growth. In 2020, the national railway freight volume reached 3.58 billion tons, accounting for 9.9% of the total social freight volume from 7.7% in 2016, which made due contributions to winning the battle against pollution, especially the battle to defend the blue sky.
Railway is a typical green means of transportation. In the 13th Five-Year Plan, the railway freight volume increased by 227 million tons year-on-year, which is equivalent to reducing carbon dioxide emissions by about 20 million tons compared with the same traffic volume completed by highways. In recent years, the railway’s own energy structure has been continuously adjusted and optimized. At present, the electrification rate of the national railway has reached 74.9%. It is estimated that the railway freight volume will reach 3.7 billion tons in 2021, and the traction workload of electric locomotives will reach 90.5%. The annual fuel consumption of the national railway has dropped from the peak of 5.83 million tons in 1985 to 2.31 million tons, a drop of 60%, which is equivalent to reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 12.56 million tons every year. We will further seize the favorable opportunity of the national transportation structure adjustment, comprehensively optimize the layout of railway freight according to the target requirements of central peak carbon dioxide emissions and carbon neutrality, make good use of the capacity of freight corridors such as Daqin, Haoji, Tanghu and Wari, promote the special railway lines to enter the port, mine and logistics park, and further stabilize the volume of bulk cargo. At the same time, vigorously develop container multimodal transport, solve the problems of long running time and uncertain delivery time of freight trains, continuously improve the competitiveness of railway freight market, and strive to expand the railway market share.
Deepen the independent innovation of high-speed rail
Lu Dongfu introduced that in January this year, General Secretary of the Supreme Leader pointed out that high-speed rail was a successful example of independent innovation in China, which fully proved the remarkable advantages of the national system. The general secretary asked us to sum up our experience seriously, continue to improve it and strive for greater development in the 14 th Five-Year Plan. The important instructions of the General Secretary provide us with a fundamental follow-up to further promote the independent innovation of high-speed rail and give great encouragement and spur to the cadres and workers in the whole industry.
During the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" period, China’s railway independent innovation has made great achievements, and its overall technical level has entered the world’s advanced ranks. High-speed, plateau, cold and heavy-haul railway technology has reached the world’s leading level, and intelligent high-speed rail technology has achieved full autonomy. In particular, Fuxing EMU has shown excellent performance in terms of safety, economy, energy saving and environmental protection, and is well received by the market and the majority of passengers. The passenger load factor is 0.7 percentage points higher than the average passenger load factor of EMU. At present, Fuxing serial EMU has been formed, covering the speed classes of 160 km/h to 350 km/h..
To implement the spirit of the important instructions of the General Secretary and deepen the independent innovation of Fuxing high-speed train, several key tasks are currently being organized:
First, before July 1st, this year, the centralized EMU with dual power sources in Fuxing Plateau will be driven into Xizang and Lhasa to achieve full coverage in 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities). In order to meet the operation needs of Lalin Railway, we independently developed the Fuxing Plateau dual-power centralized EMU, and integrated the high-power internal combustion and electric power systems on the EMU, which can adapt to various complex operating environments such as high altitude, western mountainous areas and multiple tunnels. Many of these technologies are at the international leading level, and some have filled the gaps in the world railway technology.
Second, before July 1 this year, a number of Fuxing intelligent EMUs will be launched in Beijing-Shanghai, Jingha, Beijing-Guangzhou, Chengdu-Chongqing and other high-speed railways to expand the scope of operation experience and let more people enjoy a higher quality travel life. Fuxing intelligent EMU, independently developed by China, was put into operation in Beijing-Zhangjia high-speed railway in December 2019, which was favored by the majority of passengers. This type of EMU has the characteristics of intelligent driving, intelligent service, intelligent operation and maintenance, and the energy consumption and noise in train operation have also been further improved.
The third is to start the "CR450 Science and Technology Innovation Project". In order to fully release the dividend of the developed high-speed rail network, based on scientific analysis and grasping the road conditions, we plan to develop a new generation of new products of Fuxing EMU with higher speed, safer, more environmentally friendly, more energy-saving and more intelligent, mainly through the comprehensive upgrading of the mobile equipment technology of high-speed rail based on the infrastructure conditions of high-speed rail with a speed of 350 kilometers per hour, so as to realize the higher commercial operation speed of high-speed rail in China and continuously consolidate the leading edge of high-speed rail in China.
Resolutely hold the political red line and professional bottom line of the railway
Lu Dongfu introduced that railway transportation safety has always been widely concerned by all walks of life, and railway departments have always regarded it as the political red line and professional bottom line of railway work. In recent years, railway transportation safety has remained generally stable through strengthening the foundation to meet the standards, being strict and pragmatic, comprehensively managing, and improving the "trinity" safety guarantee system of civil air defense, physical defense and technical defense. In particular, the spirit of the important instructions of the Supreme Leader General Secretary was implemented, and the railway safety environment was comprehensively rectified, eliminating a large number of environmental safety hazards. Last year, equipment failures caused by environmental problems decreased by 34% year-on-year. At present, 20 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) have formulated and promulgated railway safety laws and regulations, which provide legal protection for strengthening railway safety.
Lu Dongfu said that with the continuous expansion of the scale of the railway network and the continuous extension of the high-speed rail operation cycle, ensuring railway safety is facing increasing pressure and challenges. China State Railway Group Co.,Ltd. will carry out the requirements of overall development and safety, and comprehensively implement safety measures to ensure railway safety, especially the safety of high-speed rail and passenger trains.
Continue to consolidate the achievements of railway safety and environmental governance. Thoroughly implement the spirit of the important instructions of the Supreme Leader General Secretary, further improve the coordination and linkage mechanism with local governments and railway police authorities, strictly implement the measures for the safety management of railway external environment, strengthen road safety management, and achieve the environmental improvement goals of high-speed rail and general railway.
In-depth exploration and grasp the law of high-speed rail operation. Seriously sum up the practice of high-speed rail operation, use big data technology to study the failure mechanism and change law of high-speed rail equipment, strengthen the health management of equipment throughout the life cycle, establish and improve the technical standard system and maintenance procedures of high-speed rail that are more in line with China’s national conditions and road conditions, and continuously improve the safety and security level of high-speed rail and passenger trains.
Comprehensively strengthen basic infrastructure construction at the grass-roots level. With safety, quality and benefit as the core, we will deepen the standardization of transportation stations and sections, strictly manage the safety red line and assess the accountability for safety performance, promote the comprehensive strengthening of the quality foundation of equipment and facilities, and dynamically meet the standards of cadres and workers’ ability and quality, so as to truly establish railway safety on a solid foundation.
Lead the railway reform deeper and deeper.
Lu Dongfu introduced that under the care and attention of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, in 2019, the state-owned railway enterprises fully completed the reform of the company system, China National Railway Group Co., Ltd. was officially listed, and the modern enterprise system was initially established; The joint-stock reform of state-owned railway enterprises was accelerated, and Beijing-Shanghai High-speed Railway Company and Tieke Rail Company were successfully listed, becoming the "first high-speed railway in China" and "the first high-speed railway in science and technology innovation board". The broad masses of the people not only enjoyed the travel convenience brought by high-speed railway, but also shared the benefits of high-quality assets from the capital market.
Lu Dongfu said that in 2020, to implement the three-year action plan for the reform of state-owned enterprises of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, China State Railway Group Co.,Ltd. issued the "Three-year Action Implementation Plan for the Reform of State-owned Railway Enterprises (2020— 2022), which clarified the timetable and road map for deepening reform. We will adhere to the strategic positioning of the national railway, adhere to the centralized and unified command of transportation, adapt to the development requirements of railway transportation productivity, and continuously deepen the reform of the national railway enterprises.
Focusing on releasing the dividends of developed road network and advanced technology and equipment, we will deepen the transformation of transportation organization, optimize the operation structure of high-speed rail and ordinary passenger cars, passenger trains and freight trains, realize the coordinated allocation of transportation resources, comprehensively improve the utilization efficiency of high-speed rail network, release the freight capacity of busy trunk lines of ordinary railway, and provide support for increasing the effective supply of transportation products; By deepening the reform of equipment maintenance system, we will establish and improve the equipment quality supervision system, and give full play to the application benefits of advanced technology and equipment while ensuring the safety and reliability of equipment quality.
Focusing on releasing the dividend of the new system, we will further optimize and improve the corporate governance mechanism of China Railway by deepening the mechanism reform, promote the modernization of the governance system and governance capacity, and comprehensively improve the level of market-oriented operation under the rule of law; Pay more attention to the equity management of high-quality assets and promote the reform of railway mixed ownership to take a new step. In particular, we will implement the deployment of the state to promote the market-oriented reform of competitive links in the railway industry, accelerate the construction of a unified, open and fair market-oriented clearing system for the railway industry, and provide a fair market environment for all kinds of railway market operators.
Focusing on satisfying the people’s yearning for a better travel life, adhering to the people’s railway as the purpose of the people, adhering to the direction of market-oriented operation, gradually promoting the floating pricing mechanism of high-speed rail fares, and implementing different discounts according to regions, off-peak seasons, time slots, travel time, etc., so that the high-quality development achievements of railways can benefit the people more; Further improve the level of railway information service, explore new service measures such as non-inductive entry and exit, intelligent security inspection, and promote 12306 to become a comprehensive Internet service platform in the transportation field, providing more convenience for the majority of passengers; Adapting to the diversified market demand, combined with the implementation of passenger transport upgrading plan and Fuxing brand strategy, we will innovate service methods, improve service quality and implement differentiated services, so that the majority of passengers can have a better travel experience.
Make unremitting efforts to consolidate the achievements of poverty alleviation and effectively link with rural revitalization.
Lu Dongfu introduced that since the 18 th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the railway system has resolutely responded to the order of the CPC Central Committee to win the battle against poverty, gave full play to the advantages of the railway industry, and made every effort to promote poverty alleviation, so that 109 counties ended the history of being inaccessible to railways and 198 counties entered the high-speed rail era; Adhere to transportation to help the poor, 81 public welfare "slow trains" will not adjust their prices for 26 years, and 12 million people along the line will be transported every year, becoming "brands of state-owned enterprises and socialist advertisements"; Accurate implementation of fixed-point poverty alleviation, China State Railway Group Co.,Ltd. fixed-point assistance of 4 counties and districts and subordinate enterprises focus on helping 53 villages all lifted their hats out of poverty.
Lu Dongfu said, studying and implementing the spirit of the important speech delivered by the Supreme Leader General Secretary at the National Conference on Summarizing and Commending Poverty Alleviation, China State Railway Group Co.,Ltd. will vigorously carry forward the spirit of poverty alleviation and continue to increase assistance.
The responsibility of compacting and consolidating the achievements of poverty alleviation. Maintain the overall stability of the assistance mechanism and strength, give a ride to the designated assistance areas, and resolutely hold on to the fruits of victory in poverty alleviation. In particular, give full play to the advantages of railway resources and market, innovate ways and means of accurate assistance, and further enhance the endogenous driving force for the development of poverty-stricken areas.
Continue to do a good job in railway construction and railway transportation assistance and support. Scientifically and orderly promote railway planning and construction in poverty-stricken areas, continuously strengthen railway service facilities in old, less and border areas, rationally arrange train operation plans, increase the effective supply of transportation products, and continuously strengthen the railway’s transportation service support capacity for old and young border areas.
Strengthen the systematic planning of railway service for rural revitalization. Focusing on the objectives and tasks of rural revitalization, combined with the preparation and implementation of the "14 th Five-Year Plan" railway development plan, we will focus on the deployment and priority protection of projects related to rural revitalization, enhance the systematic and forward-looking nature of railway services for rural revitalization, and better play the important supporting role of railways in implementing the rural revitalization strategy.
Realize the "two-wing Qi Fei" of the Central European train and the western land and sea new channel train
Lu Dongfu introduced that in 2020, China State Railway Group Co.,Ltd. will conscientiously implement the spirit of the important instructions of the Supreme Leader General Secretary, give full play to the unique advantages such as the segmented transportation of trains in China and Europe and the new land and sea passage in the west, scientifically and rationally formulate the train operation plan, strengthen the cooperation between domestic transportation organizations and international railway intermodal transportation, and achieve a substantial increase in the number of trains against the trend. China-Europe trains operated 12,400 trains and sent 1.135 million TEUs throughout the year, up 50% and 56% respectively. The western land and sea new channel trains operated 3,600 trains and sent 190,000 TEUs throughout the year, up 73% and 80% respectively. In the first two months of this year, the number of trains in China and Europe and the new land and sea passages in the west increased by 96% and 175% respectively, and the role of international strategic passages became more and more prominent, which played an important role in building a new development pattern, ensuring the smooth operation of China’s foreign trade industrial chain and supply chain, and promoting international epidemic prevention cooperation.
Lu Dongfu said that in the next step, China State Railway Group Co.,Ltd. will focus on improving the quality of train operation, give full play to the role of China-Europe international railway cooperation mechanism and the coordination committee of train transportation in the new land and sea corridor in the west, accelerate the construction of train collection and transportation system, promote convenient customs clearance services, optimize transportation organization and logistics scheme, continuously improve the intensive operation level of trains, strengthen the docking between China-Europe trains and trains in the new land and sea corridor in the west, and better realize the "Qi Fei with two wings".
Resolutely build China-Laos Railway into a “the Belt and Road"The landmark project of China-Laos friendship
Lu Dongfu introduced that General Secretary of the Supreme Leader attached great importance to the construction of China-Laos Railway and explicitly requested that China-Laos Railway be built into a landmark project of the Belt and Road Initiative and China-Laos friendship. China State Railway Group Co.,Ltd. has given full play to its leading role at the enterprise level, pragmatically pushed forward the project construction, especially since last year, doing everything possible to overcome the impact of the epidemic, ensuring the smooth implementation of the project. At present, the main civil works of the Moding-Vientiane section outside China-Laos Railway have been basically completed, and the Vientiane-Luang Prabang section has been paved ahead of schedule, and the station building project behind the station has been accelerated. It is expected that the entire track will be paved in June; At the same time, under the premise of ensuring safety and quality, we will take effective measures to vigorously promote the construction of bridges, tunnels, tracks and four power projects in Yuxi-Mohan section of China. The main structure of the station building has been capped, which can ensure the opening and operation of the China-Laos Kunwan Railway in early December this year and realize direct transportation between Kunming and Vientiane. At the same time, we are organizing the development of a 160-kilometer-per-hour power concentrated EMU based on China standards, which is suitable for China-Laos Railway line conditions and reflects the cultural elements of China and Laos. This type of EMU will be delivered and tested before the end of August, and will be officially put into use when the entire line of China-Laos Kunming-Wanzhou Railway is put into operation.
China State Railway Group Co.,Ltd. will also co-ordinate the construction of the landmark project of "Belt and Road" in Jakarta-Bandung High-speed Railway, comprehensively promote key projects such as tunnels and bridges, and ensure the realization of node targets. We will promote overseas projects such as the Hungarian Railway in an orderly manner to ensure new progress.