Person:
Lawrence, Martha Ellen

Transport Global Practice
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Railway finance
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Transport Global Practice
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Last updated: April 1, 2024
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Ms. Lawrence is the Leader of the Railways Community of Practice at the World Bank and a team leader for the Bank’s technical assistance and lending programs in China and India.. She has over 30 years of experience in the railway sector, with extensive knowledge in railway restructuring, railway finance and transport regulation. Ms. Lawrence led the development of the World Bank’s resource on railway reform: “Railway Reform: A Toolkit for Improving Rail Sector Performance” and the report on “Attracting Capital for Rail Development in China.” Before joining the World Bank, Ms. Lawrence was a Managing Director of Harral Winner Thompson Sharp Lawrence, Inc., where she prepared business, restructuring and financing plans for railways worldwide and advised private sector investors on over US$8 billion in structured lease financing of transit rolling stock and infrastructure. Ms. Lawrence worked ten years on regulatory and antitrust issues, during a period of deregulation and commercialization in the US rail industry. She has developed costing and pricing systems for railways in the US, Tunisia, Zimbabwe and Brazil and financial models/business plans for railways worldwide.

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2020 - 202512000 - 20194
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Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    The Role of Rail in Decarbonizing Transport in Developing Countries
    (Washington, DC : World Bank, 2022) Lawrence, Martha; Bullock, Richard
    Railways support green development. Governments in developing countries seek to provide transport infrastructure and services to enable inclusive economic development. Transport decarbonization is critical for mitigating climate change through near-term actions and long-term transitions. Railways have an important role in reducing transport emissions, while also supporting economic development and increased mobility. Structured around the avoid–shift–improve framework, this report provides a systematic review of potential contributions that railways can make to development and climate goals.
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    China's High-Speed Rail Development
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2019-06-06) Lawrence, Martha; Bullock, Richard; Liu, Ziming
    Over the past decade, China has built 25,000 km of dedicated high-speed railway—more than the rest of the world combined. What can we learn from this remarkable experience? China’s High-Speed Rail Development examines the Chinese experience to draw lessons for countries considering investing in high-speed rail. The report scrutinizes the planning and delivery mechanisms that enabled the rapid construction of the high-speed rail system. It highlights the role of long-term planning, consistent plan execution, and a joint venture structure that ensures active participation of provincial and local governments in project planning and financing. Traffic on China’s high-speed trains has grown to 1.7 billion passengers a year. The study examines the characteristics of the markets for which high-speed rail is competitive in China. It discusses the pricing and service design considerations that go into making high-speed rail services competitive with other modes and factors such as good urban connectivity that make the service attractive to customers. One of the most remarkable aspects of the Chinese experience is the rapid pace of high-quality construction. The report looks at the role of strong capacity development within and cooperation among China Railway Corporation, rail manufacturers, universities, research institutions, laboratories, and engineering centers that allowed for rapid technological advancement and localization of technology. It describes the project delivery structures and incentives for delivering quality and timely results. Finally, the report analyzes the financial and economic sustainability of the investment in high-speed rail. It finds that a developing country can price high-speed rail services affordably and still achieve financial viability, but this requires very high passenger density. Economic viability similarly depends on high passenger density.
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    Attracting Capital for Railway Development in China
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-12-23) Ollivier, Gerald; Lawrence, Martha
    China Railways Corporation (CRC) is considering new ways to attract capital to support the strategic development of the railway sector. Currently, government is the predominant equity financier, with debt being supplied by domestic bank credits and limited amounts borrowed from International Financial Institutions such as the World Bank and Asian Development Bank. Considering its high level of accumulated debt and liabilities (RMB 3.7 trillion on an asset base of 5.7 trillion), CRC wishes to explore equity investment mechanisms, to increase cash flow from its core and non-core activities, and to use different financing channels as a way to leverage the value of its assets and introduce market-based business models to the sector. CRC is seeking to attract investment from both the private sector and from public sources such as local governments and state owned enterprises. It refers to these sources of capital as ‘social capital.’ This report examines how companies in China and railways in seven other countries, China, France, India, Japan, Poland, Russia, United Kingdom, United States, have attracted capital and made capital budgeting decisions to support their strategic development.
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    Keys to Attracting Private Capital for Railway Development
    (World Bank Group, Washington, DC, 2015-01) Ollivier, Gerald; Lawrence, Martha
    Two of the largest railway systems in the world, China’s and India’s, have intensified their focus on the private sector as an indispensable source of capital to help them enlarge their rail capacity. They will find promising options if they recognize the common characteristics of successful efforts, both in their railways and elsewhere: profitability, manageable risks shared appropriately, and shared gains. Even unprofitable rail activities, such as commuter transit, can attract private capital if adequate public subsidies are in place.
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    Private Capital for Railway Development
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2014-08) Ollivier, Gerald; Lawrence, Martha
    China is considering ways to attract additional capital to finance investment in railways. Worldwide, private capital has been attracted to the railway sector through a range of mechanisms including: (i) private sector provision of specific rail services or assets such as rolling stock; (ii) public private partnerships; (iii) leveraging commercial value of rail assets and increased land value around stations; and (iv) debt and equity financing of railway companies. Private sector investors seek to earn a return on investment that is commensurate with the risk of the investment. Therefore one will be attracted to profitable opportunities with manageable risk. Steps China can take to attract private capital for railway development include: (i) creating a policy and legal environment that protects the interests of different types of investors in the railway sector; (ii) identifying and creating profitable railway markets and entities that are suitable for private sector investment; (iii) managing the perception of risk in railway activities and assets; (iv) promoting asset sharing opportunities; and (v) expanding public private partnerships (PPPs) in rail assets and services.