National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Civil Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, National Health Commission, People's Bank of China, Financial Regulatory Bureau, National Medical Insurance Bureau, National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, All-China Federation of Trade Unions, Central Committee of the Communist Youth League, All-China Women's Federation, China State Railway Group Co., Ltd., development and reform, civil affairs, finance, commerce, culture and tourism departments, health commissions, financial regulatory bureaus, medical insurance bureaus, traditional Chinese medicine bureaus, trade unions, youth leagues, women's federations of each province, autonomous region, municipality directly under the Central Government, separately planned city, and Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, People's Bank of China Shanghai Head Office, branches of each province, autonomous region, municipality directly under the Central Government, and separately planned city, and each railway bureau group company:

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

I. 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 second and third plenary sessions of the 20th Central Committee, implementing the important instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping, comprehensively, accurately, and fully implementing the new development concept, coordinating the expansion of domestic demand and deepening supply-side structural reforms, adhering to government guidance and market-oriented principles, giving full play to the advantages of China's networked operation and safe, comfortable, and convenient railway network, improving the market-oriented operation and service guarantee mechanism for tourist trains, encouraging and supporting the participation of various types of social capital in the investment and operation of silver-haired tourist trains, expanding service supply, actively cultivating new growth points in service consumption, and better meeting the tourism service needs of the silver-haired population. By 2027, a silver-haired tourist train product system covering the whole country, with diverse routes, rich themes, and comprehensive services will be built, the service standard system for silver-haired tourist trains will be basically established, a number of themed tourist train brands will be formed, and the number of silver-haired tourist trains and passenger transport volume will achieve a significant increase compared to 2024.

II. Increase the Supply of Silver-Haired Tourist Train Services

(1) Improve the operation guarantee mechanism for tourist trains. Formulate methods for the development and management of tourist trains, clarify the system norms for tourist train product series, investment models, and operational organization, and establish and improve the operation service and guarantee mechanism for tourist trains. Optimize the tourist train timetable, promote the renovation of trains for the elderly, and enhance the capacity of tourist trains in popular directions. Collect and accept the demand for the operation of silver-haired tourist trains from the society, and carry out product customization services in various forms. Pilot the market-based bidding operation of tourist trains on lines with tight capacity, achieving optimal allocation of scarce transport resources. (China State Railway Group and each railway bureau group company)

(2) Encourage diversified capital participation in investment. Encourage localities with conditions to cooperate with railway departments to develop tourist train lines and create local characteristic tourism brands. Support and guide various operating entities, including private enterprises, to participate in the development and operation of silver-haired tourist trains and tourist railway lines, and implement market-oriented independent pricing. Support social capital to renovate vehicles that meet China's railway operational safety standards according to operational needs, and entrust railway departments to provide vehicle management and operation services according to market principles. Encourage and guide international brand tourist train operators and tourism enterprises to participate in the development of silver-haired tourist trains. (Development and Reform, Commerce, Culture and Tourism Departments, China State Railway Group and each railway bureau group company)

(3) Strengthen investment and financing support for tourist train development. Include the renovation of silver-haired tourist trains for the elderly, green, and comfortable into the scope of support for large-scale equipment renewal and consumer goods replacement. Give full play to the incentive role of the technological innovation and technological transformation re-loan policy tools, and guide financial institutions to strengthen their support for the technological transformation and equipment renewal of tourist trains. Encourage the National Railway Development Fund and local railway development funds to invest in the development of silver-haired tourist trains . Encourage localities with conditions to introduce special support policies for tourist trains. (Development and Reform, Finance, Culture and Tourism Departments, People's Bank of China, Financial Regulatory Departments, China State Railway Group and each railway bureau group company)

(4) Expand tourist train lines and products. Enrich the supply of silver-haired tourist train products and establish a product system of quality, comfort, and affordability. Encourage enterprises in the tourism and elderly care sectors to deeply explore tourism resources along railway lines, develop themed tourism routes and products for silver-haired tourist trains, form a number of mechanized silver-haired tourist trains, and create brand silver-haired tourism routes. Fully tap the potential of the existing railway network, optimize the operation of lines, increase the number of silver-haired tourist trains during off-peak passenger transport hours, and ensure the realization rate of operation. (Civil Affairs, Culture and Tourism Departments, China State Railway Group and each railway bureau group company)

III. Strengthen the Guarantee of Facilities for the Elderly

(5) Improve the level of elderly-friendly supporting equipment and facilities. Research and formulate engineering and technical standards for the renovation of silver-haired tourist trains for the elderly and comfort, and relevant standards for train services, and improve and implement construction standards for barrier-free facilities in newly built railway stations. Encourage relevant localities and railway departments to carry out elderly-friendly renovations of railway stations in key tourist destinations, strengthen the construction of supporting tourism facilities, and create tourist stations with a stronger tourism cultural atmosphere and better elderly-friendly services. Railway transport enterprises should, based on the train operating lines, tourism product design, and the needs of the elderly, improve and renovate relevant infrastructure such as train stops, preparation, and maintenance. (China State Railway Group and each railway bureau group company, Culture and Tourism Departments)

(6) Promote the elderly-friendly renovation of scenic spot equipment and facilities. Standardize the configuration of equipment and facilities in cultural and tourism venues. Improve elderly-friendly standards, combined with the implementation of equipment renewal actions, guide local cultural and tourism venues to improve elderly-friendly equipment, facilities, and services, and better facilitate the travel of the elderly. Guide cultural and tourism venues to set up green channels for elderly tourists. (Development and Reform, Culture and Tourism Departments)

IV. Improve the Service Level of Silver-Haired Tourist Trains

(7) Enriching age-friendly services on trains. Silver hair tourism trains will be equipped with a professional team specializing in age-friendly service management to systematically improve service support capabilities. Improve train medical care services, appropriately configuring medical and elderly care professionals and emergency medicines. Encourage cooperation between medical institutions and railway departments to provide medical first responders on silver hair tourism trains. Medical expenses incurred on the train can be settled through medical insurance cross-regional reimbursement using the registered location of the designated medical institution as the place of treatment. Strengthening supply and demand matching, guiding and supporting brand catering enterprises, well-known medical and health institutions, time-honored brands, and performance teams to cooperate deeply with tourism train operators. Support the inclusion of specialty foods, physiotherapy and health services, time-honored products, characteristic cultural performances, intangible cultural heritage skills, and stage art videos on trains to enrich service offerings and explore the creation of silver hair tourism trains with distinctive themes. (Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, National Health Commission, National Healthcare Security Administration, National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. and its various railway bureau group companies)

(8) Improving train service quality. Clarify the price and content of services on silver hair tourism trains, establish smooth channels for handling service complaints, and punish non-standard service behaviors. Develop contingency plans for emergencies involving elderly passengers on silver hair tourism trains, and strengthen emergency drills. Cultivate a professional silver hair tourism service team, and strengthen training on emergency response and elderly care professional skills for service personnel. Optimize and improve travel services, enrich train cultural life, and meet the spiritual needs of elderly passengers. Establish and improve a post-service evaluation and commendation and incentive mechanism for tourism trains, and actively recommend outstanding service teams and train service personnel to participate in the selection of May 1 Labor Awards, March 8th Red Banner (Collective), Youth Civilization Number, etc. (Trade Unions, Women's Federations, Communist Youth League organizations, China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. and its various railway bureau group companies)

(9) Supporting in-depth cooperation between tourism trains and scenic areas. Strengthening inspections on the implementation of preferential ticket policies for the elderly in state-owned scenic areas, guiding various scenic areas to provide discounts and convenience for silver hair groups traveling. Support the establishment of a sound communication and cooperation mechanism between tourism trains and scenic areas, encourage scenic areas to provide precise services such as reservations, green channels, transportation connections, and reception services for tourists, and develop intelligent guidance systems suitable for the silver hair group to enhance the scenic area tour experience for the silver hair group. (National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. and its various railway bureau group companies)

V. Optimizing the Development Environment for Silver Hair Tourism Trains

(10) Strengthening policy coordination. The development of silver hair tourism trains will be included as an important part of promoting service consumption. Various railway group companies and relevant competent departments of culture and tourism, commerce, etc., in various places should strengthen coordination and communication, and ensure the implementation of the work. Include silver hair tourism trains in local government policies supporting consumption promotion and serving the people, and include relevant railway catering and tourism businesses in the scope of local catering and tourism industry policy support, supporting railway transportation enterprises to apply for relevant support policies in accordance with regulations. Strictly implement preferential ticket policies for elderly tourists in scenic areas, and encourage local governments and scenic area management departments to increase preferential treatment for elderly tourists. (Development and Reform, Commerce, Culture and Tourism Departments, China State Railway Group and each railway bureau group company)

(11) Optimizing tourism insurance products. Guide insurance institutions to establish close cooperative relationships with travel agencies and medical institutions, reduce the cost of silver hair insurance products through product innovation and economies of scale, enrich insurance products targeting the silver hair group, expand the scope of protection and coverage, simplify claims procedures, and improve claims efficiency. (Ministry of Culture and Tourism, National Health Commission, financial regulatory authorities, China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. and its various railway bureau group companies)

(12) Strengthening the promotion of tourism train products. Encourage local culture and tourism, commerce departments, and various railway group companies to carry out tourism train themed consumption promotion activities, and promote tourism-related platforms to set up special sections for silver hair tourism train products to enhance the awareness of related products. Support China State Railway Group and tourism train operating enterprises in leveraging exhibition platforms such as the CIIE, CIFTIS, Hainan Expo, and tourism exhibitions to strengthen international cooperation and product promotion. Carry out demonstration case selection work on the integrated development of transportation and tourism, summarize good experiences, models, and practices in the operation of tourism trains, and increase publicity of silver hair tourism trains. (Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. and its various railway bureau group companies)

Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Culture and Tourism

China State Railway Group Co., Ltd.

National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Finance

National Health Commission, People's Bank of China

Financial Regulatory Authority, National Healthcare Security Administration

January 16, 2025