Chinese bullet trains recalled in wake of fatal crash

Train speeds reduced and new rail projects blocked as critics fear high-speed service is rife with problems

• •  reddit this

A bullet train on the Beijing-Shanghai line, 54 of which are being recalled after a fatal accident involving another firm's trains. Photograph: Jason Lee/Reuters

A Chinese bullet train manufacturer has recalled 54 trains, in the latest sign that the government has launched an overhaul of the beleaguered high-speed rail network in the wake of last month's fatal crash.

The hugely ambitious project was a matter of national prestige – evidence that China could build not only faster but, said officials, better than anyone else.

But the disaster at Wenzhou in Zhejiang province killed 40 people and sparked an outpouring of public fury which focused not just on the safety of the line but also on the authorities' handling of events, with accusations that they were seeking to cover up problems. Many saw it as emblematic of the dangers of China's accelerated development.

The recall is not directly linked to the collision, which involved trains made by a rival firm. The recalled trains are from the Beijing-Shanghai line, which launched on 1 July to mark the 90th anniversary of the Communist party – but has suffered repeated delays.

But the announcement comes days after officials imposed a moratorium on new rail projects and the rail minister announced a reduction in train speeds. Experts believe it is part of a wider overhaul of the powerful railways ministry, which began when the minister – who championed the aggressive roll-out of high-speed rail – was ousted in February. He is expected to face corruption charges.

State-owned China North Locomotive and Rolling Stock Ltd said the recall applied to model CRH380BL trains used on the Beijing-Shanghai line.

Spokesman Tan Xiaofeng said experts will examine whether sensors are halting trains unnecessarily because they are faulty or too sensitive – for example being set off when a door is ajar or a passenger smokes in a toilet.

"When problems occur, we don't wish to hide them," he said. "We put life before everything else."

He said the line had suffered "frequent quality problems" due to components from American, European and domestic suppliers.

Earlier this week, the company announced a temporary halt to production of the trains.

Zhao Jian of Beijing Jiaotong University, a prominent critic of the expansion programme, said the recall and the cutting of train speeds would help rebuild confidence.

"I think the public will be less worried, at least less worried than if the speed was not slowed down," he said.

"In my eyes, this is the state council correcting the "great leap" by the last leadership of the ministry of railways … This is definitely a major step".

But he said there were a series of problems to be exposed, such as "debt, technical safety and the fact that high-speed rail will not ease China's transportation difficulties and isn't suitable for China's economy".

Zhao said he believed the concerns about high-speed rail would ensure drastic reforms, with authorities likely to merge the ministry of railways into a transport super-ministry – as they tried to do several years ago, only to be thwarted by the rail ministry.

Ren Xianfang, senior China economist for IHS Global Insight, said the Wenzhou disaster had convinced officials to "rectify the excesses" of its system.

Ren likened the impact of the crash to the way that Fukushima had turned the Japanese public against nuclear power, adding: "It is quite clear now that stepping on the brake is the only viable policy option."

The days after the crash saw an extraordinary spate of bold reporting from Chinese media, who challenged the official response before they were reined in.

China has the world's largest high-speed train network, rolled out at a frenetic pace. But critics argued even before the crash that the focus should be on expanding freight and lower-cost services that ordinary citizens could afford, rather than on prestigious high-tech projects. Safety concerns were also raised.

Sun Zhang, a professor at the railway and urban mass transit research institute of Tongji University, told China Daily that he supported the idea of cutting train speeds, saying China should take time to test the system and gain experience.

He said it took Japan almost half a century to increase the speed of its Shinkansen bullet train from 210 kilometres an hour [130mph] to 300kph.

"So it's impressive, and at the same time a bit worrisome, that China managed to achieve speeds of 350 kilometres an hour in just seven years," he added.

Officials initially blamed the July crash on faulty signals equipment, but a senior investigator told the Beijing Times on Friday that the crash also exposed management failings and could have been avoided.

"There were serious flaws in the system design that led to an equipment failure," said Luo Lin, the minister of China's state administration of work safety.

"At the same time, this exposed problems in emergency response and safety management after the failure occurred.

"This was a major accident involving culpability that could have been totally avoided," he said.