Chinese High Speed Trains To Get Back In Action

BEIJING: Over 54 bullets trains that were recalled following safety concerns were expected to be back in operation on the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed line after about three months lay off, which could bring relief to Chinese railways reeling under heavy debt.

"All previously reported problems with the CRH380BL (high speed trains) trains have been fixed, after running repeated tests, plus evaluation from third parties and experts.

"The recalled trains will be put in operation gradually starting Wednesday," a Ministry of Railway, (MOR) press release said.

A MOR official told official news agency Xinhua that all the trains recalled in August are expected to resume service by December 6.

Due to the recall, the trains on the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway line were trimmed from 88 to 66 pairs.

The service was launched with lot of fanfare in June 30. and grabbed global headlines as the trains travelling at a speed of about 300 km covered the over 1,318 kms in just five hours.

But in a month's time, the trains ran into trouble halting midway with frequent power breakdowns.

It reached a crisis point when one high speed train crashed into a standing train which halted due to power failure at Wenzhou in southwest China on July 23.

Forty three people were killed and over 260 injured in the incident.

Following this, the Chinese government has ordered high speed trains in all sector to cut down speed to take safety into consideration.

On August 11, China North Locomotive and Rolling Stock Industry Corporation (CNR), announced recall of 54 serving trains on the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway line citing problems relating to break system.

Before the recall, CNR had announced the suspension of the delivery of 17 such trains manufactured by its subsidiary, Changchun Railway Vehicles Company, citing defects in the automatic protection system.

Recent reports said China's Railway, which is reeling under over USD 30 billion loans, suffered a major down turn in its financial outlook after spate accidents in its high speed sector.

The MOR got a reprieve after it managed to secure about USD 7.89 billion loan from the banks to get some of its stalled projects going.

According to reports construction on more than 10,000 km of railways was halted in recent months due to lack of funds, leaving workers without pay.

At the end of June, the ministry's outstanding debt increased to 2.09 trillion yuan (USD 30 billion) with its asset-liability ratio standing at 58.5 percent, according to the official data.

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