China's Ministry of Railways yesterday announced a massive restructuring that will remove one of the train network's most significant levels of bureaucracy.
Officials declined to provide details on the move, including how the  reforms would effect staffing levels, however.
The restructuring slashes the sub-administration level from the rail system's management hierarchy.
Forty-one sub-administrations will be eliminated in 10 areas that each has its own administrative entity, including Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou.
Control centers have already been set up at the area levels to take command of the transport system.
Cutting one layer of management will help enhance work efficiency and enable the nation's railways to follow a modern corporate model, said Liu Zhijun, minister of railways.
Prior to the reform, the railway system had four management levels: the ministry, the administrations, sub-administrations, and stations and sections.
Area-level rail administrations and sub-administrations were both legal entities, and their functions sometimes overlapped, leading to inefficient management, Liu said.
The Shanghai Railway Administration employs more than 146,000 workers. It operates 4,768 kilometers of track covering Shanghai and Anhui, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces.
Its four previous sub-administrations were located in Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanjing and Bengbu and together managed 379 stations.
The Shanghai Railway Sub-administration had 36,677 workers and operated 405 kilometers of track and 30 stations, including the Shanghai Railway Station, one of the busiest in China.
An official at the Shanghai Railway Administration declined to say how sub-administration staff will be folded into the larger organization.
But some employees said they were optimistic about the future.
"I learned about the reform several days ago, but I'm not very worried about it," said an employee of the Shanghai Railway Police, who was unwilling to be identified.
"I don't think our positions will change," he said.