Modern Social Science Research

The operational revenue of metro systems in the vast majority of Chinese cities is insufficient to cover operational expenditures. To ensure the sustainable operation of metro enterprises, local governments provide financial subsidies. To change this situation, it is crucial for metro operators to reduce costs and improve efficiency. Labor costs account for over 50% of the total operational expenses in metro systems, making effective reduction of labor costs a primary focus for metro operators. Based on the outcomes of outsourcing certain station services, security, and cleaning tasks in Shanghai Metro, it has been demonstrated that outsourcing can effectively lower operational costs. This paper analyzes the current status and data of outsourced labor in Shanghai Metro’s station services to identify key factors influencing outsourcing and attempts to design a standardized labor cost model for station service outsourcing.

Station outsourcing; Labor costs; Rail transit