Train ferry firm to have IPO

Sinorail Bohai Train Ferry, the country’s leading train ferry firm, plans an initial public offering (IPO).

Chi Baozhang, general manager of Sinorail, which has been in operation for less than a year (our illustration is of the first ferry being launched), said this while attending the Inaugural Annual Meeting of New Champions of the World Economic Forum.

No decision has yet been made as to where the IPO will be held but he said but an overseas IPO could take place in three years.

The company has booked sales of about RMB200 million ($26.53 million) since the start of operations in November. It operates the country’s first train ferry route across the Bohai Sea, connecting Dalian in Liaoning Province and Yantai in Shandong Province. The entire route spans about 159 kilometers.

Before this service, traffic from Northeast China would reach East China via a 1,000-km route.

Chi Baozhang said, ‘There are frequent economic and personnel exchanges between Northeast China and Shandong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang. The train ferry route has opened up a shortcut between the two regions.’

The new company, which operates two ferryboats across the sea, plans to double its freight by 2010. A long-term development goal is to have eight vessels on the sea by 2020. For now, the company hopes to expand its business from cargo to passengers.

The third ferryboat, which is expected to be put into use by the end of this year, will have facilities catering to passengers.