China blames 54 officials for bullet train crash

[John Ashworth]

China blames 54 officials for bullet train crash

AP WEDNESDAY 28 DECEMBER 2011
The Independent

A long-awaited government report said design flaws and sloppy management caused a bullet train crash in July that killed 40 people and triggered a public outcry over the high cost and dangers of China's showcase transportation system.

A former railway minister was among 54 officials found responsible for the crash, a Cabinet statement said today

Regulations required the government to release the report by November 20. When that date passed, the government offered little explanation, drawing renewed criticism by state media, which have been unusually skeptical about the handling of the accident and the investigation.

The Cabinet statement cited "serious design flaws and major safety risks" and what it said were a string of errors in equipment procurement and management.

The report affirmed earlier government statements that a lightning strike caused one bullet train to stall and a sensor failure allowed a second train to keep moving on the same track and slam into it.

Among those singled out for blame was former Minister of Railways Liu Zhijun, who was the public face of efforts to build the bullet train and was detained in February amid a graft investigation. The Cabinet also cited the general manager of the company that manufactured the signal, who died of a heart attack while talking to investigators in August.


China cabinet criticises railways ministry over train crash that killed 40 people

China's cabinet has criticised the powerful railways ministry for lax safety standards and poor handling of a train crash in July which killed 40 people, and said there may be criminal prosecutions.

The Telegraph
12:26PM GMT 28 Dec 2011

The government has struggled to address public fury over the accident near the booming coastal city of Wenzhou, when one high-speed train rammed into another one stranded on the track after being hit by lightning.

Premier Wen Jiabao vowed that the investigation would be thorough and transparent - though the cabinet's report was pushed back from mid-September for technical reasons and to give the team more time to examine documents.

An account of the conclusions of the investigation presented to Mr Wen at a cabinet meeting said the accident was due to serious design flaws in control equipment and improper handling of the lightning strike, broadly in line with initial findings.

The Railways Ministry "did not properly handle rescue efforts, did not issue information in a timely manner and did not correctly address public concerns, which created a bad influence in society", the central government said in a statement on its website.

The accident prompted a huge public outcry on microblogging services, with users expressing anger at the perceived poor official response and pulling apart accounts of the crash and the rescue efforts.

Seeking to assuage public anger, the government fired three mid-level railway officials a day after the crash.

The report detailed 54 officials who would receive administrative punishments, and said more serious penalties could follow for them.

"Legal authorities are currently conducting an independent investigation in accordance with the law into whether or not these relevant responsible officials committed crimes," it said.

It laid particular blame at the door of former railways minister Liu Zhijun, though he was dismissed months before the crash, in February, over corruption charges that have not yet been tried in court.

Liu "has the main leadership responsibility for the accident", it said.

Microbloggers were quick to denounce the findings, suggesting the government still has a long way to go to restore public trust in the railways.

"This probe will become an international joke," wrote "hjerryzhu" on the Twitter-like Sina Weibo.

"The Communist Party has become a byword for hypocrisy, lies and violence," said "kaherd".

The government has said it would suspend railway project approvals and launch safety checks on equipment to address anger following the Wenzhou crash on what was a new high-speed rail line.


China bullet train crash 'caused by design flaws'

BBC 28 December 2011 Last updated at 12:30 GMT

A bullet train crash which killed 40 people in China in July was caused by design flaws and sloppy management, the Chinese government says.

Almost 200 people were injured in the crash near the south-eastern city of Wenzhou.

"Missteps" by 54 officials led to the disaster, the long-awaited official report says.

The crash led many Chinese to accuse the government of putting development and profit before safety.

It also triggered a wave of popular anger against officials who were accused of trying to cover up the seriousness, and causes, of the crash.

Lightning strike

After receiving the report, China's cabinet criticised the railways ministry for lax safety standards and poor handling of the crash, according to Reuters.

Premier Wen Jiabao was presented with the official investigation's conclusions at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

The accident occurred after one train stalled following a lightning strike, and then a second high-speed train ran into it. Four carriages were thrown off a viaduct.

The report found that serious design flaws in control equipment and improper handling of the lightning strike led to the crash.

More serious penalties could follow for some of the 54 officials criticised in the report.

Among the officials singled out was the former railways minister, Liu Zhijun, who was sacked before the crash, accused of corruption.

Liu "has the main leadership responsibility for the accident," the report says.

Following the accident, the authorities called a temporary halt to new high-speed rail projects and placed speed restrictions on trains.

High-speed ambitions

China had planned to lay 16,000km (10,000 miles) of high-speed track by 2015, which would make it the biggest high-speed rail network in the world.

It had hoped to make its rapidly developing railway technology an export success: Chinese train companies were aspiring to compete with Germany's Siemens and Canada's Bombardier by selling their technologies to foreign companies.

But after July's crash that looks less likely.

The railways ministry said on Friday that it planned to invest 400 billion yuan ($63bn; £40bn) in infrastructure construction in 2012, which is lower than the figure for this year.

The current minister, Sheng Guangzu, said that rapid railway development should be maintained, as it "plays an important role in the country's social and economic development, especially in boosting domestic demand," according to the Chinese government's website.

[John Ashworth]

Chinese former railway minister among those blamed for bullet train crash

Design flaws and sloppy management caused crash in which 40 people were killed, according to government report

Associated Press in Beijing
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 28 December 2011 23.03 GMT

A long-awaited government report has said design flaws and sloppy management caused a bullet train crash in July that killed 40 people and triggered a public outcry over the high cost and dangers of China's showcase transportation system. A former railway minister was among 54 officials found responsible for the crash, a cabinet statement said on Wednesday.

The crash report was highly anticipated by the public. Regulations required the government to release the report by 20 November. When that date passed, the government offered little explanation, drawing renewed criticism by state media, which have been unusually sceptical about the handling of the accident and the investigation. The cabinet statement cited "serious design flaws and major safety risks" and what it said were a string of errors in equipment procurement and management.

The report affirmed earlier government statements that a lightning strike caused one bullet train to stall and a sensor failure allowed a second train to keep moving on the same track and slam into it.

Among those singled out for blame was former minister of railways Liu Zhijun, who was the public face of efforts to build the bullet train and was detained in February amid a graft investigation. The cabinet also cited the general manager of the company that manufactured the signal, who died of a heart attack while talking to investigators in August.