Research On The Distinction Between Competitive And Non Competitive Fields Of Railway Passenger Transport And Its Pricing System

The only amendment to the Railway Law in 2015 was to add "market-adjusted prices applicable to competitive fields" in Article 25 of the railway tariff clause.In 2020,it was announced that a floating fare mechanism would be implemented on some lines of the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway.It can be seen that our country attaches great importance to distinguishing pricing between competitive fields and non-competitive fields in legislation and practice.In this context,this paper explores the legal issues of the application of government pricing in the non-competitive field of railway passenger transport and the application of market-regulated prices in the competitive field.This article is divided into five parts:The first part is the introduction.This paper introduces the current railway industry with dual characteristics of public welfare and business operation,and the inflexible and sufficient topic selection background in the legislation to distinguish between the competitive and non-competitive fields of railway passenger transportation,and the use of normative analysis,comparative research and interdisciplinary research methods.,eliciting and exploring the importance of distinguishing pricing between competitive and non-competitive fields of railway passenger transport in my country.The second part is the current situation and problems of pricing in the competitive and non-competitive areas of railway passenger transport.This paper firstly introduces the legislative status and implementation status of the pricing in the competitive field and non-competitive field of railway passenger transportation.On this basis,it points out that there are unclear standards for distinguishing between the competitive field and the non-competitive field,the scope is unclear,and there is a lack of dynamic identification mode for the two.The settings and the rigidity of the pricing mechanism are four issues.The third part is the legal basis for the pricing of competitive and non-competitive areas of railway passenger transport.Based on the theory of natural monopoly,the theory of limited regulation and the theory of public interest,it is emphasized that the government’s pricing in the non-competitive field of railway passenger transport is reasonable.Under the guidance of the theory of quasi-public goods,the theory of competitive market and the theory of effective competition,the legitimacy of the application of market-regulated prices to railway passenger transport in the competitive field is pointed out.The fourth part is the pricing experience of domestic similar industries and extraterritorial railway passenger transport.This paper provides experience for the difference between competitive and non-competitive pricing of railway passenger transport in China by combing the railway pricing experience of domestic civil aviation,road passenger transport and several countries outside Germany,France,India,the United Kingdom and the United States,combined with China’s national conditions and the current situation of the railway industry.The fifth part is to improve the countermeasures for pricing in the competitive and non-competitive areas of railway passenger transport.It proposes countermeasures to clarify the criteria and scope of differentiation between competitive and non-competitive fields,formulate dynamic identification models,and formulate flexible pricing mechanisms.On this basis,Article 18 of the Price Law,Article 25 of the Railway Law,Article 3 of the Railway Passenger Tariff Rules,the Government Guidance Price Scheme and Explanation for the Fare of Some Passenger Trains on Railways and the Central Pricing Catalogue are revised and improved,and it is recommended that a list of competitive and non-competitive areas of railway passenger transport be formulated in relevant legislation,and a price linkage mechanism be established to provide institutional support for promoting the optimization and upgrading of railway passenger pricing in China.