Recently, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and the China Railway Group and nine other departments jointly issued the "Action Plan on Increased Silver-Haid Tourism Trains and Promoting the Development of Service Consumption", and proposed 12 key tasks in four aspects: increasing the supply of Silver-Haid Tourism Trains, strengthening the guarantee of elderly-friendly facilities, improving the service level of Silver-Haid Tourism Trains, and optimizing the development environment of Silver-Haid Tourism Trains. This is an innovative move to innovate tourism service supply, enhance the welfare of the elderly, and expand service consumption in the context of the continuous deepening of my country's aging and the continuous expansion of the elderly consumer group.
The addition of silver-haired tourism trains is a powerful measure to tap the consumption potential of silver-haired groups. Data shows that from 2012 to 2024, the national disposable income of residents increased from 16,510 yuan to 41,314 yuan, and the per capita consumption expenditure of residents increased from 12,054 yuan to 28,227 yuan, achieving synchronous growth of residents' income with economic development, and synchronous growth of labor remuneration with labor productivity. The improvement of the salary level means that the elderly have stronger economic security capabilities in their later years, and they have more support and support for the elderly, which has also created huge consumption potential for the silver economy. At present, the scale of my country's silver economy is about 7 trillion yuan, accounting for about 6% of GDP. It is expected to reach about 30 trillion yuan by 2035, accounting for about 10% of GDP.
Increasing silver-haired tourism trains is also a timely move to meet the consumption needs of silver-haired people. Tourism has become an important reflection of people's standard needs for a better life and a quality of life. The population aged 60 and above, accounting for 22% of the national population and as high as 310 million, has a clear trend of upgrading group consumption, especially the desire for cultural and tourism consumption has been continuously strengthened and demand has continued to grow. In 2024, the China Railway Corporation organized a total of 1,860 tourist trains, the largest number in previous years, transporting more than 1 million tourists, of which the elderly tourists accounted for nearly 80%, becoming the main customer group. According to the forecast of the China Tourism Research Institute, by the end of 2025, the elderly and healthy elderly people with high travel rates and high tourism consumption in my country will exceed 100 million, and the income from silver-haired tourism is expected to exceed one trillion yuan.
The addition of silver-facing tourism trains is an important part of giving full play to the advantages of railway resources. Entering the new era, the scale, quality and modernization level of my country's railway network have been significantly improved. It has built and operated a total mileage of over 160,000 kilometers, the world's largest high-speed railway network and advanced railway network. The main channel of the "eight vertical and eight horizontal" high-speed railway network has reached 80%. Relying on resource advantages, in popular directions and routes such as Xinjiang, Yunnan, and Heilongjiang, China Railway Group has continuously launched branded tourist trains such as "Panda Special Train", "Hulunbuir", and "Silk Road Dream Enjoy". The number of trains launched in 2024 increased by 47% and 20% compared with 2019 and 2023 respectively.
As a tourist train mainly developed and meets the specific needs of elderly customers, Yinfa tourist train not only has the characteristics of flexible routes, multi-point connection, sightseeing on the way, car with people, day trips and night trips, but also can make full use of non-peak passenger transport hours, which not only meets the travel needs of the elderly, but also maximizes the use of sufficient railway capacity to revitalize and explore inefficient idle resources.
However, my country's tourism train market is still in its overall development stage, with a low proportion of quantity and carrier volume, and there is still some room for improvement. In the future, we should take multiple measures to better develop silver-haired tourism trains.
On the one hand, we will promote the aging, green and comfortable transformation of trains and scenic spots (points), such as targeted upgrades to lights, armrests, seats, toilets, etc., barrier-free transformation of tourism infrastructure, and safety upgrades to trails. Build the train into a "mobile window" for the exhibition and sale of special agricultural products along the way to help farmers increase their income. Special food, physical therapy and health care services, time-honored products, special cultural performances, intangible cultural heritage skills and stage art videos, etc., so that the "silver-haired special train" can become a mobile "old-friendly space" and enrich the travel and life of the elderly.
On the other hand, using silver-haired tourism trains as a starting point, we provide quality, comfortable and universal diverse products, connect "lightweight" attractions such as ancient villages and family farms in the suburbs of the city, form a number of themed tourism train brands, and establish a standardized system for tourism services for the elderly. Through urban elderly people's rural tourism, health care, rural elderly people's travel and tourism to the city, broaden their horizons, promote urban and rural mobility, and effectively solve the dual dilemma of "urban elderly care anxiety" and "rural resources sleep". (Author: Ying Zhen)
