A Shanghai subway train rammed into the back of another locomotive after a signaling fault, injuring 260 people and adding to concerns that the pace of China’s rail expansion may undermine safety.
The crash happened while controllers were running operations using a manual system following an equipment failure, Shanghai Shentong Metro Group Co. said in a statement. Three of the injured are in a critical condition, state-run China Central Television said, citing the subway operator. The accident on line 10, which opened last year, occurred between Yuyuan station, in the city’s historic district, and Lao Ximen at about 2:51 p.m.
China has slashed rail construction since 40 people were killed in a high-speed crash in July that prompted criticism that authorities were building too fast. The subway and maglev- train network in Shanghai expanded more than sevenfold in eight years to 453 kilometers (281 miles) to keep pace with a growing population and demand during last year’s World Expo.
“It is a severe accident and should be a wakeup call for the managers of operators, suppliers and planners,” said Xie Weida, a professor at Shanghai-based Tongji University’s Urban Mass Transit Railway Research Institute. “Shanghai has pushed metro line projects pretty quickly in recent years as demand for public transportation is huge.”
Ambulances, Fire Engines
More than 500 people were evacuated from the two trains, Shanghai Metro said. Dozens of ambulances and at least 10 fire engines went to the scene.
“It’s so hard to believe this kind of thing could happen in Shanghai,” said Zhang Liping, 48, an accountant, who takes the subway from Yuyuan station on the way to her office. “They really should have paid more attention to railway safety since the high-speed crash.”
Zhang will walk to work tomorrow, she said. The line has reopened, Shanghai Metro said on Weibo, a Chinese website like Twitter.
A train on the No. 10 line ran in the wrong direction on July 28 because of a signaling fault during an upgrade, according to a statement on Shanghai Metro’s website. No one was injured.
Shanghai Boom
Shanghai had 11 metro lines and one magnetic-levitation track at the end of last year, which together handled an average of 5.16 million passengers a day, according to a government booklet. Two more metro lines are due to open by 2012, stretching the network to 500 kilometers and likely boosting the average number of passengers to more than 8 million a day, the booklet said.
By comparison, London Underground is 402 kilometers long and carries about 3 million passengers daily, based on data on Transport for London’s website.
China slashed nationwide spending on railway construction by 50 percent last month to 33 billion yuan ($5.2 billion) as it slowed work following the high-speed crash. The government also halted approval for new lines and fired at least three officials.
The nation’s mainline rail network is set to reach 120,000 kilometers under a 2.8 trillion yuan, five-year investment plan running through 2015. That includes boosting the high-speed network, which opened in 2007, to 16,000 kilometers.
