Nine units including the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and China Railway Group have issued the "Action Plan on Increasing the Operation of Silver Hair Tourism Trains to Promote the Development of Service Consumption", proposing to build a silver hair tourism train product system that covers the whole country, has diverse routes, rich themes, and comprehensive services by 2027. The service standard system for silver hair tourism trains will be basically established, and a number of themed tourism train brands will be formed. The number of silver hair tourism trains and passenger transportation volume will achieve significant growth compared to 2024.

The Action Plan proposes to solicit and accept the demand for the operation of silver tourism trains from the society, and to provide customized product services in various forms. Pilot the market-oriented bidding operation of tourist trains on routes with tight transportation capacity, in order to optimize the allocation of scarce transportation resources. Include the aging friendly, green, and comfortable transformation of silver tourism trains in the scope of large-scale equipment updates and consumer goods trade in support.

Notice on Issuing the Action Plan for Increasing the Operation of Silver Hair Tourist Trains to Promote the Development of Service Consumption by 9 Units including the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and China Railway Group

In order to thoroughly implement the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council on developing service consumption, silver economy, and accelerating the construction of a strong tourism country, promote the integrated development of railways and tourism, enrich the supply of the tourism market, and enhance the well-being of the elderly, this action plan is formulated.

1、 Overall requirements

Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, fully implementing the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the 2nd and 3rd Plenary Sessions of the 20th Central Committee, implementing the important instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping, fully, accurately, and comprehensively implementing the new development concept, coordinating the expansion of domestic demand and deepening supply side structural reform, adhering to government guidance and market orientation, fully leveraging the advantages of China's railway network operation and safety, comfort, and convenience, improving the market-oriented operation service guarantee mechanism of tourist trains, encouraging and supporting various types of social capital to participate in the investment and operation of silver haired tourist trains, expanding service supply, actively cultivating new growth points of service consumption, and better meeting the tourism service needs of the silver haired group. By 2027, a silver haired tourism train product system covering the whole country, with diverse routes, rich themes, and comprehensive services will be established. The silver haired tourism train service standard system will be basically established, and a number of themed tourism train brands will be formed. The number of silver haired tourism trains and passenger transportation volume will achieve significant growth compared to 2024.

2、 Increase the supply of silver tourism train services

（1） Improve the mechanism for ensuring the operation of tourist trains. Develop and manage measures for the development of tourist trains, clarify the product spectrum, investment model, operation organization and other institutional norms for tourist trains, and establish and improve the operation service and guarantee mechanism for tourist trains. Optimize the operation diagram of tourist trains, promote the renovation of train bottoms that are suitable for aging, and enhance the operational capacity of tourist trains in hotspot directions. Solicit and accept the demand for the operation of silver tourism trains from the society, and provide customized product services in various forms. Pilot the market-oriented bidding operation of tourist trains on routes with tight transportation capacity, in order to optimize the allocation of scarce transportation resources. (China Railway Group and Railway Bureau Group Co., Ltd.)

（2） Encourage diversified capital to participate in investment. Encourage regions with conditions to cooperate with railway departments to develop tourist train routes and create local characteristic tourism business cards. Support and guide various business entities, including private enterprises, to participate in the development and operation of silver tourism trains and tourism railway lines, and implement market-oriented independent pricing. Support social capital to transform vehicles that meet China's railway operation safety standards according to operational needs, and entrust railway departments to provide vehicle management and operation services in accordance with market-oriented principles. Encourage and guide international brand tourism train operators and tourism enterprises to participate in the development of silver tourism trains. (Development and Reform, Business, Culture, and Tourism Regulatory Departments, China Railway Group and Railway Bureau Group Co., Ltd.)

（3） Strengthen investment and financing support for the development of tourist trains. Include the aging friendly, green, and comfortable transformation of silver tourism trains in the scope of large-scale equipment updates and consumer goods trade in support. Give full play to the incentive role of policy tools for technological innovation and technological transformation, and guide financial institutions to strengthen their support for the technological transformation and equipment update of tourist trains. Encourage the National Railway Development Fund and local railway development funds to invest in the development of silver tourism trains. Encourage places with conditions to introduce special support policies for tourist trains. (Departments in charge of development and reform, finance, culture and tourism, the People's Bank of China, financial supervision departments, China Railway Group and various railway bureau groups)

（4） Expand tourist train routes and products. Enrich the supply of silver tourism train products and establish a quality, comfort, and universal product system. Encourage enterprises in the fields of tourism, elderly care, etc. to deeply explore tourism resources along the railway, develop themed tourism routes and products for silver hair tourism trains, form a batch of institutionalized silver hair tourism trains, and create branded silver hair tourism routes. Fully tap into the potential of the existing road network, optimize the operation of routes, and increase the number of silver tourism trains during non peak hours to ensure the fulfillment rate of operation. (Civil Affairs, Culture, and Tourism Authorities, China Railway Group and Railway Bureau Group Co., Ltd.)

3、 Strengthen the guarantee of aging friendly facilities

（5） Improve the aging level of supporting equipment and facilities. Research and formulate technical standards for the aging and comfort renovation of silver tourism trains, as well as relevant standards for train services, and improve and implement the standards for the construction of barrier free facilities in new railway stations. Encourage relevant local and railway departments to carry out aging friendly renovations of key tourist destination subway stations, strengthen the construction of tourism supporting facilities, and create tourist stations with a more tourism cultural atmosphere and better provision of aging friendly services. Railway transportation enterprises should improve and renovate the infrastructure related to train stopping, maintenance, and repair according to the train operation route, tourism product design, and aging needs. (China Railway Group and various railway bureau groups, cultural and tourism authorities)

（6） Promote the aging friendly renovation of scenic area equipment and facilities. Standardize the equipment and facilities configuration of cultural and tourism venues. Improve aging friendly standards, combine with the implementation of equipment renewal actions, guide cultural and tourism venues in various regions to improve aging friendly equipment, facilities, and services, and better facilitate the travel of elderly people. Guide cultural and tourism venues to set up green channels for elderly tourists. (Development and Reform, Culture and Tourism Regulatory Department)

4、 Improve the service level of silver tourism trains

（7） Enrich train aging services. Equip a professional aging friendly service management team on the silver tourism train to systematically enhance service guarantee capabilities. Improve train medical care services, allocate appropriate medical and elderly care professional service personnel and emergency drugs. Encourage medical institutions to cooperate with railway departments to deploy medical rescue personnel on silver tourism trains. The medical expenses incurred on the train can be settled for medical insurance treatment in other places according to the registered location of the designated medical institution. Strengthen the connection between supply and demand, guide and support brand catering enterprises, well-known medical and health institutions, time-honored enterprises, performance teams, and other tourism train operators to deepen cooperation, support the boarding of characteristic foods, physical therapy and health services, time-honored products, characteristic cultural performances, intangible cultural heritage skills, and stage art videos, enrich service supply, and explore the creation of a silver haired tourism train with distinctive themes and features. (Business, culture and tourism, health, medical insurance, traditional Chinese medicine regulatory authorities, China Railway Group and various railway bureau group limited companies)

（8） Improve the quality of train services. Clarify the service price and content of the silver tourism train, smooth the channels for handling service complaints, and punish non-standard service behavior. Develop emergency response plans for elderly passengers on silver tourism trains and strengthen emergency drills. Cultivate a professional silver tourism crew team, strengthen the training of service personnel in handling emergencies and providing professional skills for elderly services. Optimize and enhance travel services, enrich train cultural life, and meet the spiritual needs of elderly passengers. Establish a sound evaluation and commendation incentive mechanism for tourism train services, actively recommend excellent service teams and train service personnel to participate in the May Day Labor Award, March 8th Red Flag Bearer (Collective), Youth Civilization Award and other selections. (Trade unions, women's federations, Communist Youth League organizations, China Railway Group and various railway bureau group limited companies)

（9） Support the deepening cooperation between tourist trains and scenic spots. Strengthen the inspection of the implementation of preferential ticket policies for the elderly in state-owned scenic spots, and guide various scenic spots to provide discounts and convenience for the travel of the silver haired group. Support the establishment and improvement of communication and cooperation mechanisms between tourist trains and scenic spots in various regions, encourage scenic spots to provide precise services such as reservations, green channels, transportation connections, and reception services for tourists, develop intelligent navigation systems suitable for the silver haired group, and enhance the tourism experience of the silver haired group in scenic spots. (Development and Reform, Culture and Tourism Regulatory Departments, China Railway Group and Railway Bureau Group Co., Ltd.)

5、 Optimize the development environment of silver tourism trains

（10） Strengthen policy coordination. Developing silver tourism trains is an important part of promoting service consumption. Railway group companies and relevant cultural, tourism, and business departments in various regions should strengthen coordination and communication, and ensure the implementation of the work. Include silver haired tourism trains in the scope of local government policies to promote consumption and serve the people, and include relevant railway catering and tourism enterprises in the scope of local catering and tourism industry policy support. Support railway transportation enterprises to apply for relevant support policies in accordance with regulations. Strictly implement the preferential policies for tickets to senior tourist attractions, and encourage local governments and scenic area authorities to increase their preferential treatment for senior tourists. (Development and Reform, Business, Culture, and Tourism Regulatory Departments, China Railway Group and Railway Bureau Group Co., Ltd.)

（11） Optimize travel insurance products. Guide insurance institutions to establish close cooperative relationships with travel agencies, medical institutions, etc., reduce the cost of silver insurance products through product innovation and economies of scale, enrich insurance products targeting the silver population, expand coverage and reach out to a wider audience, simplify claims procedures, and improve claims efficiency. (Cultural and tourism, health and hygiene regulatory authorities, financial regulatory authorities, China Railway Group and various railway bureau group limited companies)

（12） Strengthen the promotion of tourist train products. Encourage local cultural and tourism authorities, as well as business departments and various railway group limited companies, to carry out tourism train themed consumption promotion activities, promote the establishment of silver hair tourism train product zones on tourism related platforms, and enhance the visibility of silver hair tourism train related products. Support China Railway Group and tourism train operation enterprises to strengthen international cooperation and product promotion through exhibition platforms such as CIIE, Service Trade Fair, Consumer Expo, and Tourism Expo. Carry out the recommendation and selection of demonstration cases for the integration of transportation and tourism development, sort out the good experiences, models, and practices in the practice of operating tourist trains, and increase the promotion of silver tourism trains. (Business, Culture, and Tourism Regulatory Departments, China Railway Group and Railway Bureau Group Co., Ltd.)

Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Culture and Tourism

China National Railway Group Co., Ltd

National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Finance

National Health Commission People's Bank of China

State Administration for Financial Regulation and National Healthcare Security Administration

January 16, 2025