Like most big retailers, Seiyu started as a private railway company.

ECONOMIST: Japanese retailing: Look out | The

At the same time private investment has helped Brazil's railway network to expand rapidly.

ECONOMIST: Efficiency drive

Private bomb disposal teams are contracted by German railway operator Deutsche Bahn and other companies to check that sites are safe when building works are planned.

CNN: Experts defuse unexploded WWII bomb in central Berlin

Their presence is sufficiently common that private bomb disposal teams are contracted by German railway operator Deutsche Bahn and other companies to check that sites are safe when building works are planned.

CNN: Experts defuse unexploded WWII bomb in central Berlin

ChinaScope Financial's Mr. Zhu said Beijing will also push ahead with further deregulation and liberalization in the railway industry so as to attract more private capital to invest in the sector.

WSJ: China's Railway Ministry Gets Approval for Bonds

Railways Minister Sheng Guangzu sidesteps questions from The Beijing News about rumours surrounding a merger of the railway and transport ministries, but says more private investment is needed to help ease his ministry's massive debts from building high-speed railways.

BBC: China media: NPC spokeswoman praised

Beijing may adopt other policy measures to support economic activity, such as opening up more strategic industries (eg, railway, power and telecom, and services) to private investment, providing special assistance to small and midsized enterprises and export companies, and, possibly, offering specific consumer spending subsidies.

FORBES: What's On Deck For China Investors?