Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, February 11th. Title: my country will add silver-haired tourism trains. How to facilitate the travel of the elderly?

Xinhua News Agency reporters Xie Xiyao, Han Jianuo

The Ministry of Commerce and other nine units recently issued the "Action Plan on the Increase of Silver-Haid Tourism Trains and Promoting the Development of Service Consumption". What are the considerations for implementing this action plan? What is the current operation of silver-haired tourism trains in my country? What conveniences will the addition of silver-haired tourist trains bring to the elderly? The Ministry of Commerce and relevant units held a special press conference on the 11th to respond to external concerns.

"In recent years, tourism trains have continued to develop, service quality has been continuously improved, and are favored by the 'silver-haired people' tourists. At present, my country's aging level continues to deepen, and the elderly consumer group has continued to expand. Increasing the development of silver-haired tourism trains has positive significance for innovating the supply of tourism services, enhancing the welfare of the elderly, and expanding service consumption." Kong Dejun, Director of the Service Trade Department of the Ministry of Commerce, said.

What is a silver-haired tourist train? What is the current operation?

Zhu Wenzhong, deputy director of the Passenger Transport Department of China Railway Group, introduced that tourist trains can be customized for the travel plan according to the needs of the travel group itinerary, with characteristics and advantages such as flexible routes, multi-point connection, sightseeing on the way, car with people, day trips and night trips. Among them, Yinfa Tourist Train is a tourist train mainly developed for elderly customers, meets the specific needs of elderly customers, and runs with elderly customers as the main group.

According to reports, the China Railway Corporation organized a total of 1,860 tourist trains in 2024, which was the year with the largest number of launches in previous years, an increase of nearly 50% year-on-year compared with 2019. The launch directions are mainly concentrated in popular tourist directions and routes such as Xinjiang, Yunnan, and Heilongjiang, transporting more than 1 million tourists. Through big data analysis, the proportion of elderly tourists is close to 80%, becoming the main customer base in the railway tourism train market.

Kong Dejun said that in recent years, relying on the advantages of railway resources, tourist trains have maintained rapid development, and brand tourism trains such as "Panda Special Train", "Hulunbuir", and "Silk Road Dream Enjoy" have been continuously launched. The number of tourist trains launched across the road in 2024 increased by 47% and 20% respectively compared with 2019 and 2023. However, my country's tourism train market is still in its development stage overall, with the proportion of the number and carrier volume of tourism trains. With the expansion of the elderly population and the release of cultural and tourism consumption demand, the silver-haired tourism train has great potential for development.

What timetables and road maps do each department have when adding silver-hailing tourism trains?

The action plan puts forward 12 key tasks in four aspects: increasing the supply of Yinfa tourist train services, strengthening the guarantee of elderly-friendly facilities, improving the service level of Yinfa tourist trains, and optimizing the development environment of Yinfa tourist trains.

"It takes three years to create a new pattern of development of silver-haired tourism trains." Zhu Wenzhong said that China Railway Group plans to complete the design of more than 100 railway silver-haired tourism boutique routes by 2027, and create 160 sets of silver-haired tourism trains for the elderly-friendly special units, and the scale of silver-haired tourism trains will reach more than 2,500. In accordance with the goal of "one province, one column", a number of high-quality railway silver-haired tourism routes will be launched. Equipped with a professional aging-friendly service management team, innovate aging-friendly service projects, and improve train medical care services.

Promoting cooperation between Yinfa tourist trains and tourist attractions is an important link in improving the service level of Yinfa tourist trains. Man Hongwei, director of the Resource Development Department of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, said that he will guide local governments to launch more elderly tourism routes, connect more tourist attractions that show the natural and cultural characteristics of various places, and enhance the attractiveness of silver-haired tourism train products. Guide local tourist attractions to introduce more preferential measures for the Silver-Haid Tourism Special Train on the basis of implementing preferential policies for the elderly, such as launching ticket combination products such as railway and tourist attractions packages. Support local tourist attractions to provide convenient services such as park entry and transportation connection for elderly tourists to improve their tourism experience.

The document proposes to include the aging-friendly, green and comfortable transformation of Yinfa tourist trains in the scope of large-scale equipment updates and consumer goods trade-in support.

Liu Ming, Director of the Social Development Department of the National Development and Reform Commission, said that he will work with relevant departments to conduct in-depth and systematic investigations on old trains that are idle and inefficient utilization and have the potential to transform, and to effectively understand the truth. On this basis, a meticulous and operational transformation plan is formulated. Especially according to the actual needs of the elderly tourists, lights, armrests, seats, toilets, etc. have been upgraded and transformed in a targeted manner, making the train truly suitable for the elderly and convenient for the elderly. In the application for large-scale equipment renewal projects, Yinfa Tourism Trains will be the focus of support in the cultural and tourism field, and financial support for ultra-long-term special treasury bonds will be increased.

Is the silver-haired tourist train only available to the elderly?

"The Yinhai Tourism Train is aimed at passengers of all ages." Kong Dejun said that the addition of Yinhai Tourism Train is a measure to further improve the aging-friendly facilities and services on the basis of serving consumer groups of all ages, improve the inclusiveness of tourist trains for elderly passengers, and enhance the welfare of the elderly. Everyone is welcome to take the elderly and children to take the silver-haired tourist train together to share the joy of family on the train.

He also said that the addition of silver-haired tourist trains will not squeeze out peak passenger transport hours such as the Spring Festival travel rush. The elderly have relatively abundant time and are more flexible in arrangements. The addition of silver-haired tourism trains is based on this characteristic, making full use of off-peak passenger transport hours to provide more and better tourism services. Zhu Wenzhong said that at present, the China Railway Corporation is studying and revising the management measures for tourism trains, and plans to adopt more flexible differentiated price strategies based on the seasonal differences in tourism demand, especially to increase discounts during the off-season of tourism to encourage more silver-haired groups to travel staggered.