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Passengers bite the bullet on fast trains

By Xin Dingding (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-05-15 08:44

"The facility kicks in whenever it detects even a trivial problem in the train system The sudden breakdown is not because the train's braking system has failed, nor because of problems that jeopardize the train's safety," Beijing-based The First newspaper quoted a ministry official as saying.

China Radio International (CRI) quoted unnamed experts as saying that technology glitches used on some parts of the CRH-5 bullet train may have caused the breakdowns.

The Changchun-made CRH-5 bullet trains use the technology of France-based Alstom but to customize them for Chinese railways, adjustments were made on the shape and capacity of the train, which may have led to the breakdowns, CRI reported.

Experts also attributed the failures to the relatively short trial runs. The CRH-5 started test runs only in February due to late delivery and had a shorter trial period compared to CRH-1 and CRH-2, CRI reported.

In the sixth railway speedup launched on April 18, a total of five CRH-5 bullet trains were put in use, all on the lines to Northeast China.

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