Chinese state media say bullet train derails

Chinese state media say bullet train derails

news.yahoo.com

BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese news agency says two cars from a high-speed train derailed and fell off a bridge but there is no immediate word on casualties.

The official Xinhua News Agency said the cars derailed in Wenzhou city in Zhejiang province about 8:30 p.m. (1230 GMT) on Saturday.

It says rescue personnel are rushing to the scene but that details on casualties are not known.

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RIP to the victims. Wonder how it happened. Could be that the Chinese rushed and didn't concerned themselves to safety regulations.

gizmodo.com...

China Slows Down Bullet Trains Because They're UnsafeWhen China built their network of bullet trains nearly as fast as the trains themselves move, the quick turnaround time didn't come with many safety checks, it seems. Those trains are struggling to operate at their promised speeds.

According to the Washington Post, Chinese officials are slowing trains down to help solve safety issues:

Last week, the new leadership at the Railways Ministry announced that to enhance safety, the top speed of all trains was being decreased from about 218 mph to 186. Without elaborating, the ministry called the safety situation "severe" and said it was launching safety checks along the entire network of tracks.

The cause of those safety issues? Shoddy workmanship and allegations of corruption.

In March, government auditors found several problems with the construction of the Beijing-to-Shanghai line, including fake invoices that more than a dozen companies used for construction materials and supervisors at some construction companies who lacked professional engineering licenses.

The revelations have led to questions about safety and whether corrupt subcontractors cut corners to line their pockets.

Train line construction requires the use of high-quality fly ash in the concrete. Chinese media reported allegations that some contractors might have used lower-quality ash that had been mixed with other substances.

To move at the speeds that China would like its trains to operate at, the rails must be remarkably straight. They also must be made with quality materials, since the railing will wear out faster than on a slower railway. Couple this with the massive debt incurred to build the railway, the high price to ride and the lack of people riding as a result, and it looks like China's bullet train system is in serious trouble.

news.yahoo.com
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reply to post by deltaboy


"bullet train"...

. some things should have had better names,, right from the start..

like Russian Roulette ...???

Just curious, what do these bullet trains use to make them "move"? My initial thought is that they are run on green healthy energy aka magnetic technology and not oil/fossil fuels/petrol, you get my drift...

Originally posted by aRogue
Just curious, what do these bullet trains use to make them "move"? My initial thought is that they are run on green healthy energy aka magnetic technology and not oil/fossil fuels/petrol, you get my drift...

They use electricity, to my knowledge.

For this incident, official story is: the train was struck by lightning， lost power.

reply to post by aRogue


they're propelled by electromagnets switching on and off. the electricity they use probably comes from different types of power plants.

while electricity may seem "green", our ways of producing it are not. the technology is essentially based off of steam engines. create steam with a heat source, use the pressure to preform work (i.e. turn turbine), and you have electricity. heat sources can be anything from coal to nuclear power.