China “confident” in high-speed trains
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China’s Ministry of Railways has apologised for the high-speed train crash which killed 36 people of Saturday, but said it has “confidence” in the country’s bullet train technology. The ministry called a press conference in Wenzhou on Sunday evening, where spokesperson Wang Yongping expressed condolences to the victims and their families, and said the ministry will launch an investigation into the cause of the crash. He added however, that the country’s rail technology is sound.
“China’s high-speed train is advanced and qualified. We have confidence in it,” Xinhua reported Wang as saying. He added that safety will be the ministry’s “top priority”.
The country’s high-speed rail technology had been called into question even prior to Saturday’s fatal collision. Services on the brand new Beijing-Shanghai line broke down three times in the space of five days earlier this month, following a series of power failures. Lightning has been cited as the likely cause of a power failure which led to Saturday’s crash. The D3115 high-speed service between Beijing and Fuzhou is reported to have stalled after being hit by lightning, before being hit from behind by D305 train travelling from Hangzhou to Fuzhou. This caused the latter train to derail, and fall an estimated 10 metres from the elevated track.
Bloomberg yesterday reported an expert as saying that the pace of China’s economic development has led to safety issues.
“In so many areas, there is the lack of an adequately trained – and perhaps more importantly, experienced – workforce, along with tried-and-tested management oversight at the operational level,” Bill Barron, a scholar at Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, was quoted saying. “Given the pace of expansion, how could there be?” he added.
A total of 132 people remain in hospital following Saturday’s crash, 12 of whom are in critical condition, the Wenzhou Health Bureau was quoted saying. A total of 1,630 people were on the two high-speed trains at the time of the crash. Incredibly, services are already running on the section of track where the crash occurred. Pictures emerged yesterday of high-speed trains hurtling past the stricken wreckage of train D305.
Xinhua added that three railway officials have been sacked in relation to Saturday’s crash, although the exact reasons for the dismissals are unclear. The ministry has also ordered a two-month inspection of its rail network
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