Wenzhou Crash Leads China To Slow HSR Development
Last month’s Wenzhou high speed rail crash, which killed at least 39 people, has had a profound effect on the Chinese high speed rail project. After a significant amount of public pushback, including a powerful outpouring of anger at Premier Wen Jiabao, Chinese leaders have taken steps to slow the development of the HSR system – although whether this will address safety concerns remains an open question:
China has pulled the brakes on its flagship high-speed rail project, freezing approval of new railway schemes and halting some bullet train manufacturing after a crash last month that killed 40 people and dented public confidence in the government….
“We will suspend for the time being the examination and approval of new railway construction projects,” the state council, or cabinet, said in a statement….
The normally placid People’s Daily newspaper, which is effectively the Communist Party mouthpiece, wrote that the China did not need “blood-soaked GDP”.
In short, the Chinese government is being accused by its own citizens of having rushed the HSR system into operation without doing enough work to ensure it is safe to operate. Public outrage was widespread and the leadership in Beijing clearly felt it was time to act.
They also ordered a recall of several HSR trains:
The recall applies to model CRH380BL trains used on the Beijing-Shanghai line, which has suffered repeated delays blamed on equipment failures, state-owned China North Locomotive and Rolling Stock Ltd. said. There was no indication it was linked to the July 23 crash on a separate line in southern China.
Experts will examine sensors that might be faulty or too sensitive and cause trains to stop unnecessarily, said a CNR spokesman, Tan Xiaofeng. He said that might happen if a door is ajar or a passenger violates rules and lights a cigarette in a restroom.
The Beijing-Shanghai line has suffered “frequent quality problems” with components provided by U.S., European and Chinese suppliers, Tan said. He declined to identify the suppliers.
This is yet another blow to the Chinese HSR system, as well as a blow to their hopes of exporting their technology to other countries looking to build HSR, including California. China’s breakneck pace at building HSR has positioned it as a global leader, but now serious questions are being raised about whether the pace was too rushed, with too many corners having been cut, to ensure the system can be operated safely.
China is right to slow things down while they ensure their system is safe to operate. This doesn’t invalidate the Chinese HSR system entirely, but it does suggest that China needs to get its act together before they can be seen as credible bidders for overseas HSR lines.
Can you say discount on train sets for California and lower interest rates, or none at all, for all the private capitol from China!! Turn this lemon into lemonade.
Spokker Reply:
August 11th, 2011 at 11:59 pm
I buy my high speed trains at Walmart.
Eric M Reply:
August 12th, 2011 at 11:17 am
Made in China! LOL
LOL….
With many millions of new cars being sold every year, China is wrong to halt HSR development. Slow-down operating speeds and re-asess safety and procurement policies, by all means. But stopping new projects is making China more dependent on cars on oil. The oil industry must be rubbing its hands with glee.
Useless Reply:
August 12th, 2011 at 5:55 am
When the railways are poorly constructed and there is a defect in positive traffic control system of China’s HSR, they must slow down.
Paulus Magnus Reply:
August 12th, 2011 at 7:48 am
I rather doubt HSR affects car sales.
Linked from the Infrastructurist; of particular interest is an e-mail, relayed from an unnamed safety engineer in China, in the comments section:
http://cmp.hku.hk/2011/07/25/14036/
Alon Levy Reply:
August 12th, 2011 at 4:30 am
I hadn’t seen the email before, but I did link to this post myself on my blog more than two weeks ago, and I got the link from a comment thread on this blog.
D. P. Lubic Reply:
August 13th, 2011 at 12:09 pm
My apologies, Alon, for not giving proper credit, due to not recalling immediately where the link came from on the site. The link is from the Infrastrucurist, but it was provided to them by you!
Talk about a small world. . .
39 people die on a Chinese train, and it’s a terrible tragedy reported the world over.
200,000 people die every year on China’s roads, and it’s simply ignored.
Paulus Magnus Reply:
August 12th, 2011 at 8:16 am
Lots of people dying at once is rather more notable, especially in an unusual manner.
joe Reply:
August 12th, 2011 at 8:21 am
“Final Destination N”
We have http://www.nhtsa.gov/ to collect individual complaints and failures with automobiles so defects can be identified and corrected.
Is the issue HSR or how the Chinese process assures their complex transportation systems are safe?
Would a Chinese government regulated design and manufacturing process built as safe aircraft as Boeing flying in our airspace?
Useless Reply:
August 12th, 2011 at 8:27 am
@ joe
Chinese system is driven by bribery, where bribery is considered to be a part of normal business transaction. It’s simply a lot cheaper and quicker to pay off the inspector and government officials than to actually spend money to get projects comply with regulations.
Chinese perception of bribery is same as American perception of TIP.
JBaloun Reply:
August 12th, 2011 at 8:34 am
Short answer is yes.
I only once did a design that was reviewed by an FAA designated engineer. A cargo door sized science view port installed in the lower forward cargo bay of the NASA DC-8. From what I have seen from this project and as an aerospace engineer, the FAA and industry collaboration is not perfect, but it is very very safe. The new Boeing 747 is undergoing many thousands of hours of testing and there will be a ton of documents written over a year before the first cargo or passenger is carried. Air travel is commonly recognized as much safer than automobile travel.
I hav enot been to China. But I have heard too many reports that correlate to a government that does not always enforce it’s own regulations and laws much less compare to the level of enforcement in the western contrite. Just as an example, software licensing. The frustrating part for me is that by allowing software piracy the value destroyed is more than the lost software sales. They are devaluing part of the greater software industry.
After the HSR fell off the viaduct there was a photo of the rushed demolition that showed a back-hoe digging next to the foundation of the bridge support. Did they bother to have a civil and soil engineer check that they are not disturbing the bridge?
I do not trust this Chinese government. And more I question systems designed (copied) and built by engineers and workers who cannot voice their opinions or concerns. I think China is making fundamental mistakes which likely contributed to the HSR system problems.
JBaloun Reply:
August 12th, 2011 at 8:48 am
Correction: no, not as safe.
joe Reply:
August 12th, 2011 at 12:27 pm
Gotcha.
JBaloun Reply:
August 14th, 2011 at 10:33 am
Just watched this show on China industry. Looks like for better or worse China industry is on course to steamroll over us.
http://www.nbcbayarea.com/on-air/as-seen-on/International-Innovators.html
Peter Reply:
August 12th, 2011 at 11:23 am
An aircraft designed and built in China must meet the same stringent FAA requirements as one designed and built in the U.S.
However, the FAA relies heavily on data gathered and compiled by the manufacturer throughout the certification process. This does raise the possibility of faked data being produced and submitted. However, the same problem can arise with U.S. manufacturers.
Tom McNamara Reply:
August 12th, 2011 at 12:14 pm
That’s how that pet food doctored with melamine got through, I think.
joe Reply:
August 12th, 2011 at 12:26 pm
Yes, we have our regs.
My point is to understand the lesson of the crash.
Is it: “OMG rail crashes”
or ”
“The Chinese-safety assurance process for any complex system is questionable”
I say the later. This crash is not a lesson about HSR but of the current Chinese process.
Since they do not make commercial aircraft, none have met our safety assurance requirements.
Transit ridership surges throughout Bay Area
Table showing ACE up 14.4%, Caltrain up 11.6%, etc.
Tom McNamara Reply:
August 12th, 2011 at 12:18 pm
Rents are also rising. The lack of available and affordable housing is pushing new workers onto the commuter systems.
The infrastructure is crumbling in this country and what have we been doing about it? There is always a trade-off and China and the States are on two ends of the spectrum. The accident was certainly a tragedy and probably could have been avoided had the regulation and inspection been carried out properly, but at least the Chinese will learn and move forward. Shouldn’t we hold off criticizing others till we fix our own problems?
OT, but does anyone know what happened at the hearing on Atherton I and II today?
SJ Mercury coverage of the Atherton/MP lawsuit hearing today
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_18671918
Calif. cities argue case to block high-speed train
By ADAM WEINTRAUB Associated Press
Posted: 08/12/2011 05:34:37 PM PDT
Updated: 08/12/2011 06:12:06 PM PDT
SACRAMENTO, Calif.—Cities on the peninsula south of San Francisco made their case Friday to halt the extension of California’s proposed high-speed rail line through the area.
If successful, the coalition that includes Palo Alto, Atherton and Menlo Park would jeopardize plans to bring high-speed rail into one of California’s top destinations.
Lawyers for the group asked Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Michael Kenny to block the California High-Speed Rail Authority from proceeding with a route between San Francisco and the Central Valley. They say planners made flawed estimates of ridership and ignored traffic problems and other possible impacts.
“There will be congestion on highways south of San Jose that people won’t be aware of, and they should have been made aware,” said Stuart Flashman, attorney for the coalition.
Lawyers for the rail authority argued that it was too early in the project for the kind of detailed analysis the plaintiffs demand and that those environmental effects will be examined in the next phase of work.
The judge is expected to rule within 90 days.
Detailed reports on the first planned segment of the high-speed rail line, between Merced and Bakersfield, were released this week. They showed estimated costs of $10 billion to $13.9 billion, far higher than a 2009 estimate that projected the segment would cost $7.1 billion.
Construction in that stretch is scheduled to start next year.
The total cost of connecting San Francisco to Los Angeles and Anaheim with high-speed service by 2020, previously estimated at $43 billion, also is expected to rise.
Opponents of the project question whether California can afford the project, especially as costs escalate, and say ridership projections are overly optimistic.
Voters approved $9 billion in state bonds for the project in 2008.
joe Reply:
August 12th, 2011 at 9:02 pm
Ha, Seriously? This argument is hilarious.
Antherton, Menlo Park and Palo Alto are suing on grounds of highway congestion impacts on people south of San Jose ?
How kind of them to use their NIMBY weapon, Project X will create traffic congestion, to sue HSR on behalf of south county residents.
No lawsuit over PAMPA traffic congestion, grade impacts, aerials, disrupting backyard BBQs or property values. It’s about ridership estimates and traffic congestion south of San Jose.
Wow.
political_incorrectness Reply:
August 12th, 2011 at 9:43 pm
LMAO! Wow, I’m not sure which one is more funny, the GOP debate or this piece of frivolous crap.
OMG south of San Jose highway congestion!
PAMPA is nuts. The rubes south of San Jose have been planning on massive, sustainable development for years. Steve Jobs even considered putting Apple HQ in Coyote Valley.
Consider the San Jose Coyote Valley Specific Plan.
One condition, the development should include work opportunities and cannot be dominated by residential.
http://www.sanjoseca.gov/coyotevalley/
Bullet train may get a ticket to nowhere
http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_18673519
Of interest from this article is this one paragraph.
It’s also causing concern among one-time proponents of the bullet train. Gov. Jerry Brown, who supported high-speed rail while campaigning for governor, is planning to “take a hard look” at the growing cost estimates, according to his office. Sen. Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, who chairs the legislative committee overseeing the high speed rail authority, has said he won’t support the project unless it pencils out.
joe Reply:
August 12th, 2011 at 10:35 pm
As opposed to Gov Brown doing what?
I fully expect Gov to take a hard look at the cost estimates now and in the future – he’s the freaking Governor.
Hey, maybe, just, maybe the Gov is taking a hard look at the design options. If they pull the pplug, he gets to send 3.5 B to DC.
datacruncher Reply:
August 13th, 2011 at 11:00 am
Before anyone suggests the federal money be used elsewhere in the state, I believe that likely would not happen. I think trying to shift the federal stimulus out of the SJV would likely lead to the feds pulling their $3.5 billion funding.
In an election year, the media/bloggers/ads would have a field day with how job creation money was taken from the high unemployment Valley and given to the richer, more liberal San Francisco area (and SoCal) for other projects. The White House and Congress would not want ads running about taking money from the “poor” and giving it to the “rich”. That would be all that middle America voters would remember, not how the money was used on other projects.
Plus, California’s ARRA applications made a big deal about how the federal money would help the SJV with job creation and future economic development. Job creation in high unemployment areas was a big factor in the stimulus program. Trying to change project locations would be changing the reasons the state told DC we should have the money.
I think the federal stimulus money has to either be used in the SJV or we plan to see it sent back to DC. I believe that article is right, the state would lose the $3.5B if the bond sale is vetoed.
Assemblyman Hill in the SF Chronicle on The future of high speed rail in California
In off-topic news, Amtrak has released an iPhone app and it is actually pretty darn good, which surprised me, playing around with it this evening. I’ll probably take a day trip into Diego (any recommendations besides the USS Midway Museum?) this upcoming week, and I’ll have a better review of it available afterwards, after purchasing tickets with it.
Column: Bullet train may get a ticket to nowhere
Bay Area Council’s Wunderman in SF Chron: The Test of Our Generation