Glitches mar China's High-Speed Railways

Sept. 7, 2011
A Chinese Railway Ministry report has said the country's high-speed railways suffered 168 glitches in the month of July.

A Chinese Railway Ministry report has said the country's high-speed railways suffered 168 glitches in the month of July.

The report said 106 of 168 problems occurred were quality problems related to rolling stock, the 21st Century Business Herald reports.

Most problems were reported in high-speed trains manufactured by China North Locomotive and Rolling Stock Corp Ltd (CNR).

According to the report, trains manufactured by CNR's Changchun unit reported 56 malfunction cases as compared to 30 problems found in locomotives manufactured by the company's Tangshan unit.

However, the nation's other major bullet train builders, such as a Qingdao unit of China South Locomotive and Rolling Stock Corp (CSR) and the joint venture Bombardier Sifang Power (Qingdao) Transportation Ltd, also had problems with their products.

The report called for conducting a thorough overhaul of the China's trains.

Corporation Spokesperson Tan Xiaofeng said the recall of the CRH 380BL trains was due to "small problems with components" and that to substandard products provided by suppliers was also responsible for glitches.

CNR's Tangshan unit engineer Zhang Lei said suspected cracks had been detected in the train axles, which could cause an accident.

However, CNR Publicity Officer Wang Jing denied that recall of trains was due to cracks found on the axels and added that none had been found during checks, the China Daily reports.

China's fast-expanding high-speed railways have suffered a variety of problems in the past.

CNR had earlier recalled 54 high-speed trains used on the Beijing-Shanghai line over safety concerns.

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