The Railway Law was promulgated in 1990 and amended in 2009 and 2015 respectively. The latest revision entered into force on April 24, 2015.

There are 74 articles in total.

The key points are as follows:

1.Railways as referred to in this Law include State railways, local railways, industrial railways and railway private sidings.

(1)state railways refer to the railways administered by the competent department in charge of railways under the State Council.

(2)local railways refer to the railways administered by local people’s governments.

(3)industrial railways refer to the railways administered by enterprises or other units to provide in-house transport services.

(4)railway private sidings refer to the branch railway lines which are administered by enterprises or other units and are connected to a State railway line or any other railway line.

2.The State shall focus its effort on the development of State railways and provide substantial aid and support to the development of local railways.

3.A railway transport contract shall be an agreement in which the mutual rights and obligations between the railway transport enterprise and the passenger(s) or shipper(s) are defined. A passenger ticket, a luggage, parcel or goods consignment note shall represent a contract or a constituent part of a contract.

4.A railway transport enterprise shall be liable to pay compensation for loss, short-delivery, deterioration, contamination, or damage that might have occurred to the shipped goods, parcels or luggage as of the moment the railway transport enterprise undertakes the conveyance until the moment of their delivery.

5.Participation of State or local railways in international through transport must obtain approval from the State Council.

6.The standard railway gauge shall be 1435mm. Standard gauge must be adopted in the construction of a new State railway.