CRI听力:Break-downs Means Safer System? High-Speed Rail Facing Questions in China

Due to a rainstorm in Tengzhou on July the 10th, a city along the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed line, electricity to the line was shut down, causing the train to be delayed by two hours.

The other three accidents, which occurred once on the 12th and twice on 13th of July. The accidents were related to power outage and transformer problems of the train.

Professor Sun Zhang is from the Urban Rail Traffic Research Center at Tongji University in Shanghai. He participated in the feasibility studies for the High-speed railway project. He says that the safety of passengers can be assured because the high-speed train can automatically detect malfunctions and slow down.

"The technology involved means that malfunctions lead to a safe shut down. The break-down on the 13th of July is one example. Sensors have been installed in different parts of the train. Whenever they detect irregularity in operation, the data will be sent to the main computer control system. Then the
train will slow down or even comes to a complete stop automatically."

Currently, there are 105 new high-speed trains running on the line heading in both directions, all of which are still in the adjustment period.

Similar to the high-speed trains in other countries, these trains also have sensors detecting the speed of the wind and the volume of rainfall. The sensors usually send the data back to the control center. But the communications between the control center and the staff on the train is not smooth, meaning the staff on board the train sometimes feels embarrassed when explaining to the passengers what has happened exactly. Sun Zhang further explains how such sensors work.

"When the sensors find an accumulation of rain exceeding 150 millimeters within a period of 24 hours, the train automatically stops. When the wind speed reaches 25 meters per second, the train starts to slow down to a speed of 70 kilometers per hour, and when the wind speed escalates to 30 meters per second, which is equal to grade 12 winds, then the train comes to a complete stop."

Many passengers complained that during the two hour train delay, air-conditioners all stopped running, and the whole carriage went completely dark, leading to a cramped and stuffy environment. Sun Zhang says this has shown some flaws in the trains' original design.

"The emergency battery on board the train can only last for one hour, but it can't provide power to air-conditioners. So there should be at least two to three windows in every carriage which can be opened."

Some reports have indicated that the recently launched high-speed rail line has greatly reduced the number of passengers using the corresponding airline routes. The flights between Changzhou and Beijing have seen their passenger numbers reduced by half.

The frequent accidents on the high-speed rail line however, have driven some business back to the airlines. Manager Zhao Kaijun from Changzhou Airport says that in the wake of these accidents, the number of passengers taking flights has climbed back to 64 percent of what it was before the train lines had been constructed.

"The frequent breakdowns may have disappointed many train passengers. I think there may be a group of business passengers who want to return to airline travel."

The railway authorities explains that the breaksdown is mainly due to the high standard safe mode adopted by the high speed line. However, one commentary from Xinhuanet.com points out, for common travelers, while a safe journey is always the priority, punctuality is also very important.

For CRI, I'm Liu Min.