中华人民共和国铁路法
Railway Law of the People's Republic of China

（Adopted at the 15th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Seventh National People's Congress on September 7， 1990， promulgated by Order No. 32 of the President of the people's Republic of China on September 7， 1990 and effective as of May 1， 1991）
颁布日期：19900907 　实施日期：19910501 　颁布单位：全国人大常委会

Contents

Chapter I General Provisions

Chapter II Railway Transport Business

Chapter III Railway Construction

Chapter IV Safety and Protection of Railways

Chapter V Legal Responsibility

Chapter VI Supplementary Provisions

Chapter I General Provisions

Article 1 This Law is formulated for the purpose of ensuring smooth progress of railway transport and railway construction in order to meet the demands of socialist modernization and people's livelihood.

Article 2 Railways as referred to in this Law include State railways， local railways， industrial railways and railway private sidings.

State railways refer to the railways administered by the competent department in charge of railways under the State Council.

Local railways refer to the railways administered by local people's governments.

Industrial railways refer to the railways administered by enterprises or other units to provide in-house transport services.

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

Article 3 The competent department in charge of railways under the State Council shall be responsible for railway affairs throughout the country， implement over the State railway network a transport control system which is highly centralized and under unified command， and shall provide guidance for， coordination among， supervision over and assistance to local railways， industrial railways and railway private sidings.

A State railway transport enterprise shall perform the administrative functions as authorized by relevant laws and administrative rules and regulations.

Article 4 The State shall focus its effort on the development of State railways and provide substantial aid and support to the development of local railways.

Article 5 A railway transport enterprise must adhere to the socialist orientation in operation and management， pursue the aim of serving the people， improve operation and management， better the work style， and enhance the transport service quality.

Article 6 Citizens shall have the obligation to take good care of railway installations. Damage to railway installations and disruption of normal railway traffic shall be prohibited.

Article 7 Local people's governments at various levels along the railway lines shall assist the railway transport enterprises in ensuring safe and uninterrupted railway traffic， good social order at stations and on trains， intactness of railway installations， and smooth progress of railway construction.

Article 8 Regulations governing the technical operations of State railways shall be formulated by the competent department in charge of railways under the State Council， while rules governing the local railways and industrial railways shall be drawn up with reference to the regulations governing the technical operations of State railways.

Article 9 The State shall encourage scientific and technological research on railways in order to heighten their scientific and technical level. Any unit or individual that has achieved outstanding results in such research shall be awarded.

Chapter II Railway Transport Business

Article 10 All railway transport enterprises shall guarantee safe transport of passengers and goods and punctual train arrivals.

Article 11 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.

Article 12 A railway transport enterprise shall ensure the passenger of riding on a train of the number and on the date stated on the passenger's ticket， and of arriving at the destination stated on the same ticket. In case of the passenger being unable to ride on the train of the number and on the date stated on the passenger's ticket owing to the liability of the railway transport enterprise， the said enterprise shall， as requested by the passenger， refund the total sum of the ticket fare or make arrangements for the passenger to ride on another train to the same destination.

Article 13 A railway transport enterprise shall take effective measures to serve the passengers well in a courteous， attentive， warm and cultured manner， keep the station premises and passenger cars clean and sanitary， provide boiled drinking water and good catering services on the train.

A railway transport enterprise shall take measures to protect the environment along railway lines from pollution.

Article 14 Any passenger boarding a train shall hold a valid passenger ticket. Any passenger riding on a train without a ticket or with an invalid ticket shall pay the ticket fare on the train plus such additional charges as specified in relevant railway regulations； the railway transport enterprise may order any passenger who refuses to do so to leave the train.

Article 15 The State railways and local railways shall plan the goods transport on the principle of promoting production and invigorating circulation.

Priority in transport shall be given to materials for emergency rescue or disaster relief and other goods and materials that warrant such priority according to relevant regulations of the State.

Where goods and materials to be carried by local railways need to be carried by State railways， the transport plan therefore shall be incorporated in the transport plan of State railways.

Article 16 A railway transport enterprise shall carry the goods， parcels and luggage to their destinations in observance of the time limit stipulated in the contract or within the time limit prescribed by the competent department in charge of railways under the State Council. For any overdue goods， parcel， or luggage， the railway transport enterprise shall be liable to indemnity for breach of contract.

In case a railway transport enterprise fails to deliver the goods， parcels or luggage to their consignee or owner passenger after thirty days in excess of the time limit， the shipper， consignee or passenger concerned shall be entitled to claim compensation for loss from the railway transport enterprise.

Article 17 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.

（1） Any shipper or passenger who has voluntarily applied for insured transport of valued articles shall be entitled to an indemnity on a par with the actual loss but not exceeding the insured value.

（2） Indemnity for goods conveyed not in the manner of insured transport of valued articles shall be on a par with the actual loss but not exceeding the liability limit laid down by the competent department in charge of railways under the State Council. If the loss is caused by deliberate action or grave fault on the part of the railway transport enterprise， the above-stated liability limit shall not apply but the indemnity shall be made in conformity with the actual loss.

Any shipper or passenger may， on voluntary basis， buy insurance policy for transport of goods at an insurance agency and the insurance agency shall be liable for indemnity in conformity with the agreement as stated in the insurance contract.

Any shipper or passenger may， on voluntary basis， enter into insured transport of valued goods or buy insurance policy for transport of goods， or may do without. No shipper r passenger shall be compelled in any manner to enter into insured transport or buy transport insurance policy.

Article 18 A railway transport enterprise shall not be liable to indemnity for any loss， in relation to goods， parcels or luggage， caused by the following reasons：

（1） Force majeure.

（2） Natural property of the goods or articles contained in the parcel or luggage， or natural wear and tear.

（3） Fault on the part of the shipper， consignee or passenger concerned.

Article 19 Any shipper shall truthfully fill in the goods consignment note， and the railway transport enterprise shall be authorized to check the description， weight and quantity of the goods and parcels as written on the note. Upon check-up， if the reported disagrees with the real contents， the shipper shall pay for the check-up expenses； if the reported agrees with the real contents， the check-up expenses shall be borne by the railway transport enterprise， and any damage incurred from the check-up with the contents of the goods or parcels as a result of the check shall be compensated for by the same enterprise.

Any deficiency in payment of transport charges and other fees as a result of untrue declaration of the goods shipped shall be made up by the shipper concerned， and the railway transport enterprise shall， according to the relevant regulations of the competent department in charge of railways under the State Council， collect from the shipper extra transport charges and other fees.

Article 20 Goods consigned for shipment that need packing shall be packed by the shipper in conformity with the national standards for packing or the trade standards for packing； where both these standards are lacking， the shipper shall pack the goods properly so that the goods would not suffer any damage due to improper packing.

A railway transport enterprise shall， with regard to the perishable goods and living animals the shipment of which it has undertaken， in accordance with the relevant regulations of the competent department in charge of railways under the State Council and the contracted agreement.

Article 21 Upon the arrival of shipped goods， parcels or luggage， the relevant consignee or passenger shall claim them in time in observance of the time limit set by the competent department in charge of railways under the State Council and at the same time pay any transport charges and other fees that the shipper has not paid or underpaid； if such time limit is exceeded， the consignee or passenger shall pay due charges for storage in accordance with relevant regulation.

Article 22 Any shipped goods that are not claimed for thirty days as of the date of issuing the notice of claim for the shipped goods， or that the consignee has informed the railway transport enterprise in writing of refusing to accept shall be sold off by the railway transport enterprise on condition that the enterprise has served the shipper a notice about such and received no acknowledgement for thirty days as of the date of receipt of the notice. The amount of money obtained from the selling， if there is any left after deduction of storage charges and other deductible fees， shall be refunded to the shipper， or turned over to the state treasury provided it is not refundable nor claimed by the shipper within one hundred and eighty days as of the date of disposal.

Any parcel not claimed for ninety days as of the date of issuing the notice of claim for such goods by the railway transport enterprise concerned and any luggage not claimed for ninety days as of its arrival at destination may be disposed of by the said enterprise provided that the latter has issued a public announcement thereupon and received no claim for the said parcel or luggage ninety days after the issuance. The amount of money obtained from the selling， if there is any left after deduction of storage charges and other deductible fees， may be recovered by the shipper， consignee or passenger concerned within one hundred and eighty days as of the date of the selling， or shall be turned over to the state treasury if no claim for recovery is received within the same time limit.

Dangerous goods and articles the transport of which is restricted according to relevant regulations shall be handed over to the public security authority or department concerned for disposition and shall not be sold off by the railway transport enterprise itself.

For articles which are not suitable for storage over a long period of time， the deadline for their disposal may be shortened in accordance with relevant provisions set down by the competent department in charge of railways under the State Council.

Article 23 Passengers， shippers or consignees who are held responsible for any loss of property of a railway transport enterprise shall be liable to compensation for the loss.

Article 24 The State shall encourage industrial railways to take up also public passenger and goods transport services on a commercial basis； the State shall promote shared use of railway private sidings by related units on the basis of agreed terms.

Any industrial railway which will take up also public passenger or goods（or both） transport services on commercial basis shall report such to and obtain approval from the people's government of the relevant province， autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government.

To any industrial railway undertaking commercial public passenger or goods transport， the provisions governing railway transport enterprises stipulated in this Law shall apply.

Article 25 Passenger fares and tariffs for goods， parcels and luggage shall be worked out by the competent department in charge of railways under the State Council and submitted by the latter to the State Council for approval. The items and rates of miscellaneous charges for passenger and goods transport on State railways shall be laid down by the competent department in charge of railways under the State Council. Tariffs applicable to specified operating lines， specified goods and provisional operating lines of the State railways shall be worked out by the competent department in charge of railways under the State Council by agreement with the competent department in charge of prices under the State Council.

Passenger fares， goods tariffs and the items and rates of miscellaneous charges for passenger and goods transport on local railways shall be laid down by the competent department in charge of prices under the people's government of the relevant province， autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government in conjunction with the agency authorized by the competent department in charge of railways under the State Council.

Passenger fares， goods tariffs and the items and rates of miscellaneous charges for passenger and goods transport on industrial railways which also run public passenger and goods transport on a commercial basis， and the rates of charges for sharing the use of railway private sidings， shall be laid down by the competent department in charge of prices under the people's government of the relevant province， autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government.

Article 26 Passenger fares， tariffs for goods， parcels and luggage， and the items and rates of miscellaneous charges for passenger and goods transport， must be announced by public notice； the same shall not go into effect before being so announced.

Article 27 Counterfeiting or alterations of tickets or other certificates which are printed and used in relation to passenger and goods transport by State railways， local railways and industrial railways shall be prohibited.

Reselling of passenger tickets or other railway transport certificates for profit shall be prohibited.

Article 28 Relevant regulations of the State concerning articles the transport of which is prohibited or restricted must be observed in consigning shipment and carrying goods， parcels or luggage.

Article 29 Domestic through transport of passenger and goods between railway transport enterprises and highway， air or waterway transport enterprises must be handled in accordance with relevant provisions laid down by the State， or in the absence of such provisions， in accordance with the agreement reached by all parties concerned.

Article 30 Participation of State or local railways in international through transport must obtain approval from the State Council.

Article 31 Military transport on railways shall be handled in accordance with relevant provisions laid down by the State.

Article 32 In the event of dispute over a railway transport contract， the railway transport enterprise and the involved shipper， consignee or passenger may settle the dispute by way of mediation； or if a party does not wish to settle the dispute by mediation or the mediation proves unsuccessful， the railway transport enterprise and the involved shipper， consignee or passenger may， in accordance with relevant provisions on arbitration included in the contract or with the written agreement on arbitration reached afterwards， apply for arbitration to an arbitration agency designated by the State.

Where a party does not perform the award of the arbitration agency within the prescribed time limit， the other party may apply to a people's court for compulsory execution.

Where no provision on arbitration is made in the contract and no written agreement on arbitration has been reached afterwards， either of the parties may bring a suit in a people's court.

Chapter III Railway Construction

Article 33 Planning for the expansion of railway network shall be based on the demands of national economy， social development and the building up of national defence and shall be coordinated with the development plans of other modes of transport.

Article 34 The construction plan of local railways， industrial railways or railway private sidings must conform to the national railway development plan and must obtain approval from the competent department in charge of railways under the State Council or an agency authorized by this department.

Article 35 The planning of any railway track， station， junction area and other related facilities within a planned urban area of a city shall be brought in line with the overall plan of this city.

The land-use plan for railway construction shall be incorporated in the relevant overall land-use plan. Land needed for future expansion or construction of new railway lines shall be allotted by the people's government at or above the county level in its overall land-use plan.

Article 36 The use of land for railway construction shall be handled in accordance with provisions of relevant laws and administrative rules and regulations.

The relevant local people's government shall support railway construction and assist the railway transport enterprise to carry out land requisition for railway construction， to dismantle or move any structures or inhabitants thereon and make due arrangements for them.

Article 37 Any railway transport enterprise shall， having acquired the right to use any land for railway construction， use the land for the approved purpose and shall not use the land for any other purposes without proper authorization； no other unit or individual may occupy or seize the said land.

The department of land administration under the local people's government at or above the county level shall order any unit or individual that has occupied or seized the land appropriated for railway construction to stop doing so and to compensate the railway transport enterprise concerned for the loss