The bullet train, which sped into service two weeks ago, encountered electrical problems three times this week and that resulted in the train breaking down in the middle of nowhere. Because there was no power supply, passengers had to sit in steaming hot cars waiting for a tow and that resulted in some confrontations with railway employees.
The 1,318-kilometre Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway was constructed to reduce the travel time between China’s two most important cities to less than five hours. It’s designed to handle a maximum speed of 350 kilometers per hour – the fastest in the world.
Chinese railway officials, who are already under fire for overspending on the project by billions and who are constantly defending themselves against bribery charges, were left red faced after the three breakdowns.
I was supposed to take the train to Shanghai from Beijing tomorrow, but after reading about the breakdowns, I decided instead to take a flight.
China is trying to export their train technology to other countries and is currently installing a high speed train line in Turkey. British railway officials are negotiating with the Chinese about buying the new trains but the recent incidents may have them take a wait and see policy until the bugs are worked out.
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