Railway Systems in Market Economy

Nowadays railway systems play an important transport role. To do so they must be punctual, provide high-density services, and be in harmony with the environment. In order to cope with the requirements of the market economy railways introduce new methods of management, commercial activities and tariff policy. Simultaneously, they build new high speed tracks and reconstruct the old ones. Railways renovate their fleet and put it into operation. Rail managers develop logistic chains and new types of combined transport.

Awareness of environmental issues, daily highway and airport congestion suggest railways a new role within transportation systems.

In the competitive transport market, railways should use their advantages. They include high speeds, urban rail services, combined transport, and container transportation.

The share of railways in the national transport sector depends mainly on realisation of the market requirements. It can also be affected by the degree of state intervention, tariffs and subsidies.

In the past Russian railways were highly centralised and were the part of the planned economic system. As the market economy with free markets and free price system had replaced the planned one, the old practice became invalid. Taking much of the previous experience, the Ministry of Railway Transport launched a skilled gradual programme of adaptation to the market economy.

In the light of today’s market Russian railways satisfy demand for transportation and enhance efficiency and quality of their services. They also integrate into the Eurasian transport infrastructure.

In order to meet the requirements of the market environment railways must show more efficiency and flexibility of their services. They are to cut costs, introduce new technologies, and modernise rolling stock.

Answer the questions:

1. What do railways introduce to meet the requirements of the market economy?

2. What is the function of rail managers?

3. Why is a railway network a competitive means of communication?

4. What factors suggest railways a new role within transportation systems?

5. What are the main advantages of the railways today?

6. What does the share of the railways in the national transport sector depend on?

7. How were Russian railways organised in the frame of the planned economy?

8. How is the market economy guided?

9. Who is responsible for adjustment of Russian railway network to the market environment?

10. What steps must be taken for the adaptation of Russian railways to the market conditions?

 

 

Методические рекомендации по подготовке презентаций

1. Прочитайте методические рекомендации по подготовке презентаций.

Common Guidelines

Giving a presentation is like taking your audience from start to finish on a journey. At the start, your audience require some basic information before they can accompany you. Once they have the information they are ready to listen to you and to follow you up to the final message. An accurate start helps to create a good impression and your aim is to be grammatically accurate as well.

Here are some common guidelines of how to make a Power Point presentation. One of the most challenging aspects of writing a presentation is the ability to organise information in a logical way.

Introduce yourself. The amount of information about yourself and your work depends on the presentation you are giving. For example, for a presentation to your colleagues, you don't need to give your name or your professional background, while presenting a new product to a client, all those things will be necessary. Besides, make sure that you are comfortable talking about your past and present experience.

Use the following phrases for welcoming and thanking the audience. Tell the audience your destination and the purpose of your presentation. If the audience do not know why they should listen, they won't support and accompany you. Don’t forget to use expressions for introducing the subject and outlining the structure of your presentation. Mention them in your closing summary and recommendations:

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen

Good evening, everyone

Thank you for inviting me to speak about…

Tonight I’m going to talk about…

I would like to start with…

I shall begin by…

The purpose of the presentation is to introduce the range of …

Let us begin with…

However…

As far as … is concerned …

Moving on to…

My third point deals with…

And last but not least…

So, in conclusion, you can see that…

Let me summarise what I’ve said.

Finally, may I remind you of the main points we’ve considered.

Outline the main points that you are going to develop and the order in which you would like to present facts. Choose attractive background and suitable text colours. Presentation software can be fun to use. Be creative, but do not include too many effects which may distract your audience from your content. Make sure the text is large enough so that the audience can read it easily from any place. Also, use a standard font that is not too complicated or distracting. Use positive statements like ‘The figures show…’ rather than a vague language like ‘The data could possibly suggest…’.

Your presentation will be effective if you know basic rules of working with slides. Don’t use too many slides: one or two per minute will be enough for your presentation. Don’t present information in sentences and paragraphs; divide it into individual parts. Try not to present more than six points on a slide. You should also reduce your text to the keywords and phrases: try to have no more than six words per line. Remember that a graph or a chart is much easier to understand than a text. Still, too many visuals may confuse the audience: don’t overload them with clips. Try to help the audience to understand the matter better by highlighting. Explain the most important information. Check all materials and equipment beforehand, and make several backups of your presentation. Don’t be too technical: adapt to the target audience, and don’t read out the text on the slides.

Use the following expressions for opening, directing and closing the meeting:

1. Right, shall we get started?

2. The first thing we have to discuss is…

3. I’d like to give the floor to…

4. Does anyone have any comments?

5 Would you like to come in here?

6. We seem to be losing sight of the main issues.

7. With respect, I don’t think that is entirely relevant.

8. Could we stick to the subject under discussion, please?

9. Perhaps we could come back to that later.

10. I’ll come to you in a minute.

11. Are there any other points anyone wishes to make?

12. To sum up,…

13. Are we all agreed on this?

14. Shall we take a vote? Are all those in favour? Are all those against?

15. I declare this meeting closed.

2. Ответьте на следующие вопросы.

1. What is the most challenging aspect of writing a presentation?

2. What is not recommended to use too often in the presentation?

3. What basic rules of working with slides can you name?

4. How should you present the information on the slides?

5. What general advice can be given for using visuals?