Thousands delayed after bullet train loses power
By Zha Minjie and Dong Zhen |
July 11, 2011, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
Thousands of passengers heading to Shanghai from Beijing suffered delays of up to three hours on the newly opened bullet train service yesterday after a power grid failure.
A total of 12 trains from Beijing were either at a standstill or were forced to slow down after the crisis which began just after 6pm, according to passengers.
A trip from Beijing to Shanghai on China's youngest and fastest rail route is supposed to take no more than 6 hours but passengers were arriving at the Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station last night after delays ranging from 80 minutes to as much as three hours.
"The train got very hot for about 15 minutes soon after leaving the Ji'nan station in Shandong Province," said John Smith, a tourist from the United States who boarded the G155 train from Beijing.
He was delayed for about two hours and arrived in Shanghai at about 11pm.
Of the 12 trains, the hundreds of passengers stuck on the G151 train suffered the most as the power supply onboard completely failed. Passengers spent about two hours in darkness without air-conditioning before the system was fixed.
"It was all black onboard ... no water, no air-conditioning and no light," recalled a passenger surnamed Zhang.
Zhang said there were many elderly people and children on the train. Some said they were feeling sick because of the heat but were not allowed to leave the train and the crew were slow to help.
Angry passengers protested at the Hongqiao station after their arrival, demanding to speak with railway officials and asking for compensation.
So far, the railway authorities have not said how victims might be compensated for the delays and their suffering.
Railway authority sources said the massive power breakdown was blamed on torrential rain in Shandong, which caused the power grid on the route to fail.
Previously, authorities had said that in the event of a power failure, emergency systems on board could operate for up to two hours.
Some of the trains were delayed along the route while the following trains had to delay their departure.
Many of the passengers began telling of their experiences while they were stuck on social networking site weibo.com.
"It's stuffy onboard and I felt the train is slightly inclined to one side. We are waiting for help to come," reported one blogger.
The last of the delayed trains was due to arrive at the Shanghai station at 12:40am today.
The Hongqiao transport hub management prolonged Metro Line 2's regular operation hours by an extra 10 minutes and increased the number of night buses to help delayed passengers. Two extra Metro trains were being put into service to pick up passengers at midnight and 12:30am.
"We have already prepared enough taxis to support the hub to facilitate the delayed passengers," said an official.
The accident sparked wide criticism online with some people asking how it was possible that China's most expensive rail route could experience such problems so soon after its opening on June 30.
A total of 12 trains from Beijing were either at a standstill or were forced to slow down after the crisis which began just after 6pm, according to passengers.
A trip from Beijing to Shanghai on China's youngest and fastest rail route is supposed to take no more than 6 hours but passengers were arriving at the Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station last night after delays ranging from 80 minutes to as much as three hours.
"The train got very hot for about 15 minutes soon after leaving the Ji'nan station in Shandong Province," said John Smith, a tourist from the United States who boarded the G155 train from Beijing.
He was delayed for about two hours and arrived in Shanghai at about 11pm.
Of the 12 trains, the hundreds of passengers stuck on the G151 train suffered the most as the power supply onboard completely failed. Passengers spent about two hours in darkness without air-conditioning before the system was fixed.
"It was all black onboard ... no water, no air-conditioning and no light," recalled a passenger surnamed Zhang.
Zhang said there were many elderly people and children on the train. Some said they were feeling sick because of the heat but were not allowed to leave the train and the crew were slow to help.
Angry passengers protested at the Hongqiao station after their arrival, demanding to speak with railway officials and asking for compensation.
So far, the railway authorities have not said how victims might be compensated for the delays and their suffering.
Railway authority sources said the massive power breakdown was blamed on torrential rain in Shandong, which caused the power grid on the route to fail.
Previously, authorities had said that in the event of a power failure, emergency systems on board could operate for up to two hours.
Some of the trains were delayed along the route while the following trains had to delay their departure.
Many of the passengers began telling of their experiences while they were stuck on social networking site weibo.com.
"It's stuffy onboard and I felt the train is slightly inclined to one side. We are waiting for help to come," reported one blogger.
The last of the delayed trains was due to arrive at the Shanghai station at 12:40am today.
The Hongqiao transport hub management prolonged Metro Line 2's regular operation hours by an extra 10 minutes and increased the number of night buses to help delayed passengers. Two extra Metro trains were being put into service to pick up passengers at midnight and 12:30am.
"We have already prepared enough taxis to support the hub to facilitate the delayed passengers," said an official.
The accident sparked wide criticism online with some people asking how it was possible that China's most expensive rail route could experience such problems so soon after its opening on June 30.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
