On Thursday 06 September 2018, members of the RTSC and CTS welcomed a delegation from the China National Development & Reform Commission.

Members from the Centre of Transport Studies (CTS) and Railway and Transport Strategy Centre, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering welcomed 19 delegates from The Department of Basic Industry Division of the 'China National Development & Reform Commission',  currently in the U.K. on a study visit, with a view to learn more in the area of railway systems and infrastructure.

The Department of Basic Industries is one of the departments constituting the National Development and Reform Commission. It “is responsible for coordinating and harmonizing the energy and transportation development plans with national economic and social development plans and programs; analyzing the performance of energy industry and transportation industry, coordinating relevant key issues and making relevant policy recommendations”.

Dr Ke Han & Dr Marc Stettler, Senior Lecturers from the CTS opened the meeting by presenting, in both Mandarin and in English, an overview of the College and the CTS to the delegation.

Mr Richard Anderson, Managing Director of the RTSC, Chaired the event and alongside Mr Haobo Yang, presented an introduction to the RTSC speaking of the benchmarking work that the Centre carries out.  During his presentation, Richard presented an overview of Metro Benchmarking and the performance of Chinese Metros, with view to discuss opportunities on metro planning.

Finally, Mr Ben Condry concluded the meeting by providing an overview of the railway system here in the U.K. and providing some comparisons with China.