Beijing West Railway Station, the biggest terminal of its kind in Asia, has been in dire straits since it was first opened a decade ago.

When the gigantic structure was erected in 1996, many hoped that it would help ease the massive congestion suffered at Beijing Railway Station.

It has taken some of the pressure off Beijing Railway Station, but it has also almost choked to death itself due to a serious lack of ways to get in and out of it.

At peak times, it is estimated that nearly 10,000 passengers come in and out of the station every hour, with that figure likely to jump to more than 20,000 during the 2008 Olympics.

Experts believe that the station will be unable to handle such a large flow of passengers unless there are more ways for people to get in and out.

The station currently has exits and entrances in the north and south, but only the northern ones are currently in use. The southern exits have been idle for a decade due to a lack of supporting facilities.

The occupation of quite a large part of the lobbies leading to the exits in the north by retailers has made it even more difficult to evacuate passengers who have just arrived.

A special fund has now been earmarked for the management of the station. Beijing municipal government is drawing up plans to construct supporting facilities in order to open up the southern entrances and exits. Meanwhile, construction has started on one of the three metro lines to the station.

Moves are afoot to solve the problems. But why is the management of such a large railway terminal in such a mess? This sorry tale provides much food for thought.

Ensuring a smooth flow of passengers should always have been the top priority for the station's bosses.

But it appears this principle was not so attractive to station management as making a profit from renting out space and facilities to businesses.

The failure to develop the supporting facilities for the southern entrance and exits is believed to have something to do with offering these public utilities as commercial projects to developers.

Many departments are involved in the running of the station. For example, station security is handled by no less than five different police departments. A lack of co-ordination between various departments has, to some extent, led to chaos.

The lesson may be such that a detailed and scientific management mechanism needs to be designed in advance and construction could be divided into several phases when there is a lack of funds, but public utilities must never be developed as commercial projects.