Ministry of Ruthlessness

霸道部 (bà dào bù): Ministry of Ruthlessness

This is a sarcastic name for the Ministry of Railways (铁道部). The Ministry of Railways has come under close public scrutiny in 2011. There has been a massive corruption investigation into actions taken by Railway Minister Liu Zhijun, there have been allegations that local officials from the Ministry of Railways were complicit in the death of a college student, and most significantly there have been accusations that the Ministry’s lax oversight allowed the Wenzhou train accident to occur.

Controversy also erupted in December 2010 when the Ministry of Railways announced that holders of economy class train tickets would not receive a refund if they arrived late for their train. (No similar restriction applied to those who held tickets for high speed trains.)