China to punish 54 over fatal train crash

Workers clearing wreckage of mangled carriages after a Chinese high-speed train derailed on July 23 in the town of Shuangyu, near Wenzhou. China said yesterday design flaws and poor management were to blame for the fatal rail crash

China said 54 people would be punished for design flaws and poor management it blamed for a fatal July crash on the nation’s flagship high-speed rail network that sparked public fury.
The highly critical statement from the State Council, or cabinet, yesterday said the railway ministry had mishandled the rescue and failed to address public concern after the disaster, which killed at least 40 people and wounded nearly 200.
The cabinet repeated earlier government findings that a July 23 lightning strike stalled one high-speed train near the eastern city of Wenzhou and caused signalling equipment to fail, allowing a second train to rear-end the first.
“The Ministry of Railways did not properly handle rescue efforts, did not issue information quickly, and failed to address public concerns in the proper fashion,” the cabinet statement said.
“The China Railway Signal and Communication Corp, the main signalling equipment contractor, did not fulfil its full responsibility, which resulted in serious design flaws and security risks in the equipment it supplied.
“The relevant workers in the Shanghai Railway Department had little training in safety awareness, and after the accident happened, they did not carry out their duties properly or correctly.”
The crash triggered a flood of criticism of the government and led authorities to freeze the rapid expansion of China’s ambitious high-speed rail network, already the world’s most extensive and held up by Beijing as a sign of rapid progress.
The cabinet statement made no mention of the deaths or injuries in the accident or compensation for the victims on China’s worst rail accident since 2008, but said the ministry of railways would be further investigating its officials.
China Central Television devoted several minutes to the cabinet findings, showing footage of Premier Wen Jiabao addressing the State Council, intercut with animated graphics of lightning striking the rail tracks.
The cabinet said the former railway minister Liu Zhijun and Zhang Shuguang, a former deputy chief engineer at the railway ministry, would be among those punished for the accident.
Liu was sacked in February over corruption charges, after he allegedly took more than 800 million yuan (USD 125 million) in kickbacks over several years on contracts linked to the high-speed network.
Zhang, who was closely tied to Liu and involved in the high-speed rail’s design, was suspended in March.
The cabinet recommended that all 54 railway officials singled out for punishment should be disciplined with demotions and the loss of their positions within the nation’s ruling Communist Party.
The cabinet did not say what criminal charges, if any, would be pressed.
Those singled out for punishment were from the China Railway Signal and Communication Corp, the Design Institute of Signals and Communication, the railway ministry and the Shanghai Railway Department, the statement said.
Another man named as responsible was Ma Cheng, the deceased former CEO of the Signals & Communications Group.
Authorities decided to limit speeds on the high-speed network to 300 kph following the allegations of widespread, high-level graft in the rail sector, with fears that safety had been compromised.