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Finding real drivers of train crash
By Wang Yong |
September 30, 2011, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
SHANGHAI runs too fast for its "drivers."
In a narrow sense, "drivers" are those who drive a taxi, a bus or a subway train.
In a broad sense, "drivers" are urban administrators. In an even broader sense, "drivers" are forces that drive modernity and GDP.
In the case of the train crash on subway Line 10 on Tuesday that injured 284 people, various human drivers demonstrated that they were not trained for emergencies.
When the high-tech signaling system broke down, men were called to coordinate the traffic flow, and yet they made two trains collide on the same track.
Yes, the signaling system was not reliable, but it did not directly cause the two trains to collide; it was men who, by dereliction, ignorance or incompetence, made the tragedy happen. Shanghai's subway network has expanded so fast that it apparently could not or did not properly train all or most of the drivers.
My wife and I take Line 10 almost every day and are very familiar with the frequently poor services. For example, young drivers often announce the next stop in a mishmash of Mandarin and Shanghaiese dialect that defies comprehension.
Worse, they often speak in a crass tone like that of spoiled and cynical boys, if not that of street hooligans. Still worse, sudden starts and braking are a trademark of Line 10, in contrast with the more mature Line 2.
The poor skills and services of train drivers are there for everyone to see, but does anyone care?
What we evidently do care very much about is the number of machines, the measurable hardware - from trains and tracks to signal systems.
They are easy to churn out to add a few percentage points to our glorified GDP growth.
In contrast, effective training of the drivers of these machines has clearly become a secondary task.
In a similar vein, Shanghai has installed myriad security scanners in subway stations, but guess what?
Those young men and women who "drive" the far-reaching security systems often fall asleep, blind to whatever is scanned.
When amateurs drive a big part of our city life, what can you expect?
In a narrow sense, "drivers" are those who drive a taxi, a bus or a subway train.
In a broad sense, "drivers" are urban administrators. In an even broader sense, "drivers" are forces that drive modernity and GDP.
In the case of the train crash on subway Line 10 on Tuesday that injured 284 people, various human drivers demonstrated that they were not trained for emergencies.
When the high-tech signaling system broke down, men were called to coordinate the traffic flow, and yet they made two trains collide on the same track.
Yes, the signaling system was not reliable, but it did not directly cause the two trains to collide; it was men who, by dereliction, ignorance or incompetence, made the tragedy happen. Shanghai's subway network has expanded so fast that it apparently could not or did not properly train all or most of the drivers.
My wife and I take Line 10 almost every day and are very familiar with the frequently poor services. For example, young drivers often announce the next stop in a mishmash of Mandarin and Shanghaiese dialect that defies comprehension.
Worse, they often speak in a crass tone like that of spoiled and cynical boys, if not that of street hooligans. Still worse, sudden starts and braking are a trademark of Line 10, in contrast with the more mature Line 2.
The poor skills and services of train drivers are there for everyone to see, but does anyone care?
What we evidently do care very much about is the number of machines, the measurable hardware - from trains and tracks to signal systems.
They are easy to churn out to add a few percentage points to our glorified GDP growth.
In contrast, effective training of the drivers of these machines has clearly become a secondary task.
In a similar vein, Shanghai has installed myriad security scanners in subway stations, but guess what?
Those young men and women who "drive" the far-reaching security systems often fall asleep, blind to whatever is scanned.
When amateurs drive a big part of our city life, what can you expect?
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