Railway sector strives to improve passenger service

The Vietnam Railway Corporation (VNR) aimed to continue creating conditions for railway transport companies to improve their competitiveness and ensure railway traffic safety, Deputy General Director Pham Cong Trinh said at a recent workshop.
The Vietnam Railway Corporation (VNR) aimed to continue creatingconditions for railway transport companies to improve theircompetitiveness and ensure railway traffic safety, Deputy GeneralDirector Pham Cong Trinh said at a recent workshop.

This year,the sector would also continue taking measures to improve railwayservices and "manage ticket prices" better, according to Trinh.

In2014, the number of railway accidents dropped by 6.1 percent. Therewere also fewer delays, Trinh said, pointing out that nearly 100 percentof Thong Nhat trains departed and arrived on time in the fourthquarter.

The launching of an online booking system in Decembermade it easier and fairer for passengers to buy tickets, particularlyduring busy times like Tet, as customers could now use their phones topurchase tickets rather than going to the station and waiting in a longqueue, he said.

Train transport accounts for 0.5 percent of thetotal passenger transport market and 1 percent of total freighttransport. The sector aims to raise these rates to 13 percent ofpassenger transport and 14 percent of freight transport by 2020.

Speeding up
Aspart of the plan to realise the targets, the VNR will equitise 15 railbridge maintenance and five railway communications companies next yearand withdraw capital from non-core businesses.

The corporation finished the equitisation process for five member companies in 2014, selling all shares offered.

"VNR plans to stay focused on its core business: railway management," said Deputy Director General Doan Duy Hoach.

VNRwill continue to withdraw capital from businesses operating in mining,construction and tourism, which are unrelated to its core function.

Itwill also reduce its stake in the Transport Investment and ConstructionConsultant JSC to less than 20 percent, in addition to lowering itsstake in the Railway Construction Corporation JSC and Investment andConstruction 3 and 6 to less than 30 percent.

"After thecompletion of the equitisation process, VNR will allow companies to bidfor transportation businesses on high-demand routes, creating a fairplaying ground for all," the deputy director general said.

DeputyMinister of Transport Nguyen Ngoc Dong said VNR must strengthenmanagement capacity and keep operations and safety up to standard whileimplementing the restructuring plan and capital withdrawal.

RegardingVNR's restructuring plan, the minister said the corporation planned tocarefully study customer demand and detect any overweight cargo, as VNRmanagers would be held responsible for weight violations found undertheir management.

The minister ordered VNR to ensure smooth transportation for the upcoming New Year and Tet holiday.

Thecorporation asked the Ministry of Transport and Government to come upwith policies to address the number of surplus employees that resultedfrom VNR's restructuring process.-VNA

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