Posted on 07/23/2011 11:41:14 AM PDT by Olog-hai
SHANGHAI — At least 11 people have died after two high-speed trains crashed into each other in China's eastern province of Zhejiang on Saturday causing two carriages to fall off a bridge, state news agency Xinhua reported. Another 89 people have been sent to hospital, it added. Each carriage could carry about 100 people, Xinhua said.
The accident occurred after the first train was hit by lightning and lost power, and was then rear-ended by another bullet train, Xinhua added, citing provincial television. Pictures on state television's main news channel showed one carriage on the ground under the bridge, with another hanging above it.
The government has spent billions of dollars boosting the railway network of the world's most populous country and has said it plans to spend $120 billion a year, over several years, on railway construction. But the vast network has been hit by a series of scandals and safety incidents over the past few months. Three railway officials have been probed for corruption so far this year, according to local media reports. In February, Liu Zhijun was sacked as railways minister for "serious disciplinary violations." He had spearheaded the investment drive into the rail sector over the last decade. …
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The Chinese bullet trains, just like ol Casey Jones when he faced ol' number 9 on the same line!
Ceptin' Casey did it with a pocket watch ~
That's a Leadbelly song.
Wow, all the train passengers were killed / S
More soylent green for the hordes.
I was on that train earlier this month (or one just like it). At one point it hit 150 mph. Guess I’m a lucky guy.
———Lightning would hit the electrification instead of the train-——
You obviously overlooked the salient fact in the event. The train is a very fast moving train, a bullet in fact, and it traveled into the striking lightning bolt. The train was thus hit rather than the intended electrification target.
Speed killz.
BTW, this was not the new high speed train we have read so much about lately, that one wasn’t opened yet. This was a very nice, very smooth, very full train that for most of the trip cruses at about 100-120 mph with that one gust up to 150.
Which makes it even more curious why they invested so much money on this new train along the same route. Seems like a pure waste to me.
In the US, that would be the case.. In China (I’ve been there a few times) it seems the trains are always packed, and they actually sell “standing room only” tickets as well. On a 16 car train, there’s probably at least 1500 people.
RIP.
In China they force people onto the trains.. They don’t have the highway system like we do and they banned short air trips from what I have heard.
I'll never forget the "bargain" set of binoculars I became curious to buy from a late night TV commercial. LOL!
The thing looked great, but they apparently forgot the most important last step.
Ever try to use binoculars which have never been collimated?? Must be a cultural thing.
This opens the question: Is this part of a possibly growing quality control issue in China’s great and rapid infrastructure expansion?
It’s already been seen that these lines are unaffordable to the average Chinese, are frequently run at less than “high speed” - to save costs (related to the energy expenses for them), and now some volatile questions of quality.
Of, course this does not make the U.S. nightly news, lest the state-media harm the Obama hand-outs to the planners of such transportation scams in the U.S.
That is true.. It may work in Japan or France, but not here.
At least in that part of China that is not true. Earlier this month I drove from Changzhou to Shanghai in a 6 lane freeway well up to American Standards. Better than the freeways in Minnesota for sure.
I am thinking that these trains are going to be used to move ammunition and troops quickly.
Civilian passengers are an afterthought.
Really? I never saw it, and I go there a few times a year (my company gets things made outside of Shanghai). Massive highways are also getting built, along with airports.
In fact, I’ll be flying from Shanghai to Ningbo, later today (about a 30 minute flight - like flying from LA to San Diego). No bans on short flights as far as I can tell...
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