Recently, the Ministry of Transport and the National Railway Administration issued the Opinions on Strengthening the Supervision and Management of Intercity Railways and Urban (Suburban) Railways (hereinafter referred to as the Opinions), aiming to clarify the regulatory interface, implement regulatory responsibilities, improve the system rules, strengthen the supply of standards, strengthen system governance, further promote the orderly, healthy and sustainable development of intercity railways and urban (Suburban) railways, and provide strong support for accelerating the construction of a modern comprehensive transportation system and serving the construction of Chinese path to modernization. The Opinion clarifies that the National Railway Administration and the Regional Railway Supervision and Administration Bureau shall fulfill their industry regulatory responsibilities, and relevant departments of local people's governments shall fulfill their local management responsibilities, effectively promoting the improvement of the hierarchical and classified regulatory system of the National Railway Administration, the Regional Railway Supervision and Administration Bureau, and the local people's government regulatory agencies, and consolidating regulatory responsibilities. The Opinion encourages provincial transportation authorities to establish regulatory systems and methods that are suitable for local development by deepening institutional and mechanism reforms and formulating local laws and regulations based on the technical characteristics of intercity railways and suburban railways in the region, as well as the travel requirements of service areas. The Opinion puts forward clear requirements for improving the regulatory system of intercity railways and suburban railways. One is to improve the technical standard system, optimize the "Design Specification for Intercity Railways", improve the relevant standards for the design, acceptance, and cost of urban (suburban) railways, and promote the integration of the "four networks". The second is to optimize the administrative licensing system, based on the characteristics of intercity railways and suburban railways, optimize the licensing methods and implementation rules for railway transportation enterprise operations, locomotive and vehicle driver qualifications, and further facilitate applicants. The third is to improve the operational safety assessment system, accelerate the formulation of the "Railway Operational Safety Assessment Standards" and "New and Reconstructed Railway Operational Safety Assessment Methods", and promote the effective implementation of operational safety assessment standards. (Lai Xin She)