54 high-speed trains recalled in China
August 12th, 2011 - 6:08 pm ICT by IANSBeijing, Aug 12 (IANS) Fiftyfour high-speed trains used on the Beijing-Shanghai route will be recalled over safety concerns, its manufacturers said Friday.
The Shanghai-listed China CNR Corp. Ltd. train manufacturer said in a statement posted on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s website that it has asked the Ministry of Railways for approval to recall 54 of its high-speed CRH 380BL trains, reported Xinhua.
The company previously decided to suspend the delivery of its CRH 380BL trains, as the company has stated that the trains have flaws in their automatic braking systems.
Thirtynine people were killed when a high speed train rammed into another train in July.
The trains were assembled by the company’s two subsidiaries, Changchun Railway Vehicles Co., Ltd. in northeast China’s Jilin province and Tangshan Railway Vehicle Co., Ltd. in north China’s Hebei province.
“The trains are designed to automatically slow down or halt when quality problems occur to ensure safety. They will also send information to the control centre and other trains on the tracks,” said Zhao Minghua, vice president of Changchun Railway Vehicles Co. Ltd.
A company spokesman blamed quality defects in outsourced parts and components for the problems, without elaborating where the parts and components came from.
The spokesman also said the company will speed up an overhaul of its products in cooperation with its suppliers in order to put the trains back on the country’s railways.
The company said it will share the costs of the recall with its suppliers.
The railways ministry Thursday unveiled a new plan to slow down the operational speeds of the country’s high-speed trains.
The ministry also cut the number of high-speed trains running daily between Beijing and Shanghai to 66, effective Aug 16.
The State Council, or China’s Cabinet, Wednesday ordered increased safety checks for the country’s high-speed railways in response to public complaints about railway safety.
The two trains involved in last month’s collision near the city of Wenzhou in east China’s Zhejiang Province were not assembled by CNR, but by two subsidiaries of CSR Corp. Ltd., another Chinese train manufacturer.
The State Council also decided to suspend the approval of new railway construction projects for the time being.
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