Checks 'to eliminate' all railway risks
By Zha Minjie |
August 13, 2011, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CHINA'S State Council said yesterday it would conduct thorough checks on all high-speed railways with a speed of 200 kilometers per hour and above as well as rail projects under construction.
The checks aim to "thoroughly eliminate risks" concerning high-speed railways and "effectively prevent and resolutely curb" major railway accidents, according to a notice on the government's website. The one-month checks will begin next week.
They are the Chinese government's latest moves to ensure railway safety after the bullet train collision in Wenzhou that killed 40 people and injured hundreds of others on July 23.
The railway ministry has already decided to slow down high-speed trains nationwide and recall bullet trains involved in a series of breakdowns on the Shanghai-Beijing route.
Ten railway bureaus, including Shanghai and Beijing, are on a list to be subject to inspections led by 12 teams, the State Council statement said. China's two major bullet train producers, China CSR Corp and China CNR Corp, are also on the list together with rail signal equipment makers.
The State Council said railways that had serious potential safety problems "should stop operation and construction immediately."
The checks will cover all aspects of the high-speed railway system with an emphasis on signaling, trains and staff training. The inspections will also investigate the effect on operations of heavy rainfall and thunderstorms.
A signaling problem and human error were mainly to blame for the July 23 crash, said An Lusheng, the newly appointed director of the Shanghai Railway Bureau, after an initial investigation. The rail ministry said that bad weather that day also played its part.
A detailed investigation report is expected to be released by next month.
Even before last month's crash, bullet trains had been criticized as dangerously fast and too expensive for China where the poor majority need more low-cost transport, not record-setting speeds.
China has the world's biggest train network, with 91,000 kilometers of passenger rail lines. But trains are overloaded, and critics say the money would be better spent expanding slower routes.
Meanwhile, a bullet train manufacturer is recalling 54 trains used on the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed route over safety concerns.
The China North Locomotive and Rolling Stock Ltd (CNR) said it had asked the railway ministry for approval to recall 54 of its high-speed CRH 380BL trains after repeated delays blamed on equipment failures.
The Beijing-based company said the trains had flaws in their automatic braking systems.
A spokesman for CNR blamed quality defects in outsourced parts and components for the problems, Xinhua news agency reported.
The company apologized for any inconvenience for passengers by the rescheduling of high-speed train operations as a result of the recall which cuts the number of services on the Shanghai-Beijing route.
The two trains involved in last month's collision at Wenzhou were not assembled by CNR, but by two subsidiaries of CSR Corp, another Chinese train manufacturer.
The checks aim to "thoroughly eliminate risks" concerning high-speed railways and "effectively prevent and resolutely curb" major railway accidents, according to a notice on the government's website. The one-month checks will begin next week.
They are the Chinese government's latest moves to ensure railway safety after the bullet train collision in Wenzhou that killed 40 people and injured hundreds of others on July 23.
The railway ministry has already decided to slow down high-speed trains nationwide and recall bullet trains involved in a series of breakdowns on the Shanghai-Beijing route.
Ten railway bureaus, including Shanghai and Beijing, are on a list to be subject to inspections led by 12 teams, the State Council statement said. China's two major bullet train producers, China CSR Corp and China CNR Corp, are also on the list together with rail signal equipment makers.
The State Council said railways that had serious potential safety problems "should stop operation and construction immediately."
The checks will cover all aspects of the high-speed railway system with an emphasis on signaling, trains and staff training. The inspections will also investigate the effect on operations of heavy rainfall and thunderstorms.
A signaling problem and human error were mainly to blame for the July 23 crash, said An Lusheng, the newly appointed director of the Shanghai Railway Bureau, after an initial investigation. The rail ministry said that bad weather that day also played its part.
A detailed investigation report is expected to be released by next month.
Even before last month's crash, bullet trains had been criticized as dangerously fast and too expensive for China where the poor majority need more low-cost transport, not record-setting speeds.
China has the world's biggest train network, with 91,000 kilometers of passenger rail lines. But trains are overloaded, and critics say the money would be better spent expanding slower routes.
Meanwhile, a bullet train manufacturer is recalling 54 trains used on the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed route over safety concerns.
The China North Locomotive and Rolling Stock Ltd (CNR) said it had asked the railway ministry for approval to recall 54 of its high-speed CRH 380BL trains after repeated delays blamed on equipment failures.
The Beijing-based company said the trains had flaws in their automatic braking systems.
A spokesman for CNR blamed quality defects in outsourced parts and components for the problems, Xinhua news agency reported.
The company apologized for any inconvenience for passengers by the rescheduling of high-speed train operations as a result of the recall which cuts the number of services on the Shanghai-Beijing route.
The two trains involved in last month's collision at Wenzhou were not assembled by CNR, but by two subsidiaries of CSR Corp, another Chinese train manufacturer.
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