China high-speed rail operator forced to hike fares as debt balloons

DALIAN, China -- China's state-owned railway company has raised prices on major high-speed routes and introduced premium seats to chip away at the $859 billion in debt it has racked up amid its aggressive network expansion.

This summer, China Railway reworked fares for four major high-speed routes. The complex new system first raises the base fare by about 20% and then sets different discount rates for each train.