Objective Whether the allocation of operation/management rights for newly built lines is scientific and reasonable directly determines the quality of subsequent operational services from the source, due to its important impact on the overall operational efficiency, management layout of urban rail transit groups, and even the high-quality development of the industry. It is therefore necessary to introduce market competition mechanisms to change the current administrative directive-based allocation mode of operation/management rights for urban rail transit new lines.

Method The drawbacks of traditional approaches and the difficulties of introducing market mechanisms are analyzed. Countermeasures and pathways to address this issue are proposed from five aspects: clearly defining the scope of entrustment, accurately evaluating operational performance, reasonably verifying operational costs, establishing an internal bidding mechanism, and implementing incentive and constraint mechanisms, with a focus on discussing the fulfillment conditions for incentives in new line operations.

Result & Conclusion  Although there are many internal and external constraints, it is possible to stimulate the initiative and proactiveness of new line operation/management entities by optimizing internal systems, and innovatively establishing an open and effective internal market-oriented competition mechanism, thereby further improving the operational quality of urban rail transit network.