Regulation on the Administration of Railway Safety

Regulation on the Administration of Railway Safety Order of the State Council of the People's Republic of China (No. 639) The Regulation on the Administration of Railway Safety, as adopted at the 18th executive meeting of the State Council on July 24, 2013, is hereby issued, and shall come into force on January 1, 2014. Premier: Li Keqiang August 17, 2013 Regulation on the Administration of Railway Safety Chapter I General Provisions Article 1 This Regulation is made to strengthen railway safety administration, ensure safe and smooth railway transport and protect personal safety and property safety. Article 2 Railway safety administration shall adhere to the principles of safety priority, prevention orientation, and comprehensive control. Article 3 The railway administrative department of the State Council is responsible for the supervision and administration of railway safety around the entire nation, while the railway administrations established by the railway administrative department of the State Council are responsible for the supervision and administration of railway safety within their respective jurisdictions. The railway administrative department of the State Council and the railway administrations are collectively referred to as railway regulatory authorities. The relevant departments of the State Council shall be responsible for the relevant work concerning railway safety administration according to laws and their functions and duties set forth by the State Council. Article 4 The local people's governments at all levels and the relevant departments of the local people's governments at or above the county level alongside railway lines shall, according to their respective functions and duties, strengthen railway safety protection education, implement the accountability system for road maintenance and joint protection, prevent and stop behavior endangering railway safety, coordinate and handle matters relating to railway safety, and conduct well the work relating to railway safety. Article 5 Entities engaged in railway construction, railway transport or railway equipment manufacturing and maintenance shall strengthen safety management, establish and improve work safety management rules, assume their responsibilities for work safety, set up safety management bodies or arrange safety management personnel, carry out national standards and professional standards for work safety and product quality, strengthen safety education and training of employees, and ensure capital necessary for guaranteeing work safety. Employees of entities engaged in railway construction, railway transport or railway equipment manufacturing and maintenance shall strictly observe the relevant rules and operate in line with standards so as to ensure railway safety. Article 6 Railway regulatory authorities, railway transport enterprises and other relevant entities shall make emergency response plans and organize emergency drills according to the relevant state provisions. Article 7 It is prohibited to disrupt railway construction and transport order, or damage or illegally impropriate any railway transport facility, railway sign or railway land. Any entity or individual that discovers any conduct damaging or illegally impropriating any railway transport facility, railway sign or railway land or otherwise jeopardizing railway safety has the right to report it to a railway transport enterprise or the railway regulatory authority, the public security organ or any other competent authority. The enterprise or department receiving the report shall timely handle the situation in light of its functions and duties. Any entity or individual that has made outstanding contributions to maintaining railway safety shall be honored and rewarded according to the relevant state provisions. Chapter II Quality and Safety of Railway Construction Article 8 The survey, design, construction and supervision of railway construction projects, as well as the procurement of construction materials and equipment, shall be subject to bid invitation according to law. Article 9 Entities engaged in the survey, design, construction and supervision of railway construction projects shall obtain the relevant qualifications and engage in railway construction activities within the scope of business licensed by their qualification grades. Article 10 Railway construction project entities shall select survey, design, construction and supervision entities with corresponding qualification grades to undertake the construction of railway projects, oversee and inspect the quality and safety of construction projects, make inspection records, and keep them for future reference. Article 11 The survey, design, construction and supervision of railway construction projects shall abide by the construction quality and safety management provisions of laws and administrative regulations, and observe national standards, professional standards and technical norms. Entities engaged in the survey, design and construction of railway construction projects shall be responsible for the quality of their survey, design and construction work, while supervision entities shall be responsible for supervision over construction quality. Construction projects of high-speed railways and railways with complex geological structures shall be governed by the engineering geological survey and supervision system. Article 12 The safety facilities of a railway construction project shall be designed, constructed and put into use simultaneously with the main part of the project. Investments in safety facilities shall be included in the budgetary estimate of the project. Article 13 Materials, parts, devices and other products used for railway construction projects shall conform to the mandatory national standards and professional standards for product quality. Article 14 The construction period of a railway construction project shall be reasonably determined and adjusted in light of the geological condition and technical complexity of the project and according to national standards, professional standards and technical norms. No entity or individual may require any railway building, design or construction entity to shorten the construction period in violation of the preceding paragraph. Article 15 Upon completion, a railway construction project shall be subject to an as-built check organized according to the relevant state provisions and an operation safety evaluation conducted by a railway transport enterprise. A railway may not be put into operation unless it has passed the said as-built check and operation safety evaluation and reached the operation safety requirements. Article 16 To build a railway construction project alongside a railway line or in an adjacent area thereof, it is required to carry out the construction safety management provisions alongside railway operating lines. The railway construction project entity shall make a construction safety plan together with the relevant railway transport enterprise, the design entity and the construction entity, and conduct construction on the basis of the plan. Upon completion of construction, the project entity shall promptly clean up the site, and may not affect railway operation safety. Article 17 Where a newly built or rebuilt railway designed for trains with speeds of 120 km/h or above or a railway designed with a transport volume that reaches the higher standard prescribed by the railway administrative department of the State Council needs to cross with a road, grade-separated junctions shall be set up. Where a newly built or rebuilt expressway, Class I highway or express way in urban roads needs to cross with a railway, grade-separated junctions shall be set up, and a plan on underpass grade separation shall be prioritized. Any exiting level crossing of railways and roads as described in the preceding paragraphs shall be gradually rebuilt into a grade-separate junction. Where any newly built or rebuilt high-speed railway needs to cross with any ordinary railway, road, flume, pipeline or other establishment, a plan in which the high-speed railway crosses over the said establishment shall be prioritized. Article 18 The cost for constructing railway-highway grade-separated junctions and the auxiliary safety devices thereof shall be shared by the following principles: (1) Where a newly built or rebuilt railway needs to cross with an existing highway, the railway side shall bear the construction cost, and additional cost incurred as the highway side requires construction work above the existing highway construction standards shall be borne by the highway side; (2) Where a newly built or rebuilt highway needs to cross with an existing railway, the highway side shall bear the construction cost, and additional cost incurred as the railway side requires construction work above the existing railway construction standards shall be borne by the railway side; and (3) Where a grade-separated junction needs to be constructed for a railway and a highway which are built simultaneously, or an existing railway crossing needs to be rebuilt into a grade-separated junction, the construction cost shall be shared by the railway side and the highway side on the principle of fairness. Article 19 Railway-highway grade-separated junctions and the auxiliary safety devices thereof shall be handed over to the relevant entities for management and maintenance according to the relevant state provisions after they are completed and pass the as-built check. Article 20 Where a special-purpose railway or line needs to connect with the public railway network, it is required to conform to the relevant railway construction and transport safety management provisions of the state. Chapter III Quality and Safety of Special-purpose Railway Equipment Article 21 To design, manufacture, maintain or import a new type of locomotives, it is required to conform to national standards and professional standards, and apply to the railway administrative department of the State Council for a type certificate, a manufacturing license, a maintenance organization approval or import license. The specific measures shall be made by the railway administrative department of the State Council. Entities engaged in the manufacturing, maintenance and use of locomotives shall observe the relevant laws, administrative regulations and other state provisions on product quality and ensure that all locomotives put into use satisfy the operation safety requirements. Article 22 An enterprise that produces railway turnouts and the switches thereof, railway signal control software and equipment, railway communication equipment or railway traction power supply equipment shall meet the following conditions and obtain approval from the railway administrative department of the State Council: (1) having professional production equipment which has been tested and inspected as qualified according to national standards or professional standards; (2) having corresponding professional technicians; (3) having sound product quality assurance systems and safety management rules; and (4) meeting other conditions as set forth by any law or administrative regulation. Article 23 Special-purpose railway equipment, other than locomotives, which has a direct impact on railway transport safety, may not leave the factory or be sold, imported or used until it has passed the certification required by law. Article 24 The production, testing and examination of railway tanks, special-purpose vehicles and other containers used for transporting dangerous chemicals and radioactive substances shall be conducted according to the relevant laws or administrative regulations. Article 25 The railway transport safety testing, monitoring and protection devices, transport instruments like containers and containerization appliance, loading and unloading machine, rigging equipment, tarpaulins, and load fastening materials or devices, and transport packages and goods load fastening materials shall conform to national standards, professional standards and technical norms. Article 26 Where there is any defect in locomotives or any other special-purpose railway equipment, namely, a non-compliance with the national standards or professional standards for the protection of personal or property safety or any other unreasonable danger to personal or property safety generally exists in a same batch, model or type of special-purpose railway equipment due to design, manufacturing, labeling or other reasons, the production, sale, import and use of such equipment shall be immediately stopped. The locomotive or equipment manufacturer shall recall the defected products and take measures to eliminate the defect. The specific measures shall be made by the railway administrative department of the State Council. Chapter IV Safety of Railway Lines Article 27 Safety protection areas shall be set up along the two sides of railway lines. The distance from the outside of the slope toe of embankment or the top of cutting of a railway line or from the outside of a railway bridge (including a highway and railway transit bridge, hereinafter the same) shall be: (1) ten meters for high-speed railways in urban areas, or eight meters for other railways; (2) 12 meters for high-speed railways in the habitation areas of suburbs, or ten meters for other railways; (3) 15 meters for high-speed railways in the habitation areas of villages, or 12 meters for other railways; and (4) 20 meters for high-speed railways in other areas, or 15 meters for other railways. If the above-mentioned distance cannot satisfy the railway transport safety requirements, the railway construction project entity or railway transport enterprise concerned may submit a proposal, and the railway regulatory authority or the local people's government at or above the county level shall delimit the safety protection area under Paragraph 3 of this Article. If the safety protection area is within the land range of the railway, the railway regulatory authority shall organize the railway construction project entity or the railway transport enterprise to delimit the area and make an announcement thereon. If the safety protection area is outside the land range of the railway, the local people's government at or above the county level shall, according to the principle of protecting railway transport safety and using land in an economic way, organize the railway regulatory authority together with the department of land and resources and other relevant departments of the local people's government at or above the county level to delimit the area and make an announcement thereon. If the safety protection area has an overlapping with a highway construction control area, a river-way control area, a water conservancy control and protection area, a waterway protection area, or any other protection area of petroleum, electricity or other important facilities, the local people's government at or above the county level shall organize the relevant departments to delimit the area and make an announcement thereon according to laws and administrative regulations. The safety protection area of a newly built or rebuilt railway shall be delimited and announced by the local people's government at or above the county level pursuant to this Regulation within 30 days as of the date when the preliminary design of the railway construction project is approved. The railway construction project entity or railway transport enterprise shall conduct boundary survey on the basis of the project completion materials, draw a plane chart of the safety protection area, and set up pegs according to the plane chart. Article 28 The design of a railway for trains with a speed of 120km/h or more shall be subject to fully-closed management. The railway construction project entity or railway transport enterprise shall set up closure facilities and warning signs within the land range of the railway according to the relevant provisions of the railway administrative department of the State Council. Article 29 It is prohibited to, within the safety protection area of a railway line, burn grass on waste land, breed livestock, or grow plants that would influence the safety of the railway line and the driving view of trains. It is prohibited to, within the safety protection area of a railway line, drain wastes, dump garbage or discharge any other substances jeopardizing railway safety. Article 30 To establish a building or structure, excavate earth or sand, dig trenches, conduct any caving operation, or pile up or hang articles within the safety protection area of a railway line, it is required to obtain the consent of the railway transport enterprise conce......