High-speed rail power failures no threat to passenger safety
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Xinhua, July 14, 2011
China's railway authority said Wednesday that recent power failures that have caused delays on the newly built Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway pose no threat to its operational safety.
The trains travelling on the high-speed railway are all "highly protected" and are designed to immediately stop running in case of a power failure, the Ministry of Railways said.
The railway has experienced three delays over the last four days, with the latest taking place on Wednesday. Power failures previously halted 19 trains on Sunday and 29 others on Tuesday.
Sunday's incident was blamed on an equipment failure that was triggered by high winds and thunderstorms, while Tuesday's breakdown is still under investigation, according to sources with the China CREC Railway Electrification Bureau Group.
The 1,318-km Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway went into operation on June 30. The railway allows passengers to travel between the two cities in less than five hours.
The railway is designed to handle maximum train speeds of 350 km per hour.
