Shanghai subway accident raises concerns over transit system safety

September 28th, 2011    Posted in Accident News

SHANGHAI, China — A subway accident in Shanghai has left hundreds of people injured. The accident occurred on Tuesday, after a subway train crashed into the rear of another train, leading many to speculate over the safety of China’s modernizing mass transit systems.

Authorities reported that 271 people were injured as a result of the accident. Equipment failure is thought to have been the cause of the incident, but the accident remains under investigation. Luckily, no deaths were reported, but roughly 20 people incurred serious injuries that were non-life threatening.

This accident came just two months after a fatal crash between two trains on China’s high-speed rail network. That incident, which occurred on July 23 in Wenzhou, was thought to have occurred because of poor weather conditions and a signal failure. Forty people were killed as a result of the incident and 200 others were injured.

Following the Wenzhou accident, China’s high-speed rail program received wide-spread criticism regarding its safety. Since then, the Chinese government has slowed down the speed the trains were going and announced they would review the safety program. The latest accident occurred at nearly 3 p.m. on Metro Line 10. Reports explain that the line’s signal system failed around 2:10 p.m. and supervisors had to direct the trains by telephone before the incident occurred.

But this was not the first time that problems occurred with the line. Two months ago, a signaling problem on the same line led one train to make a wrong turn, putting countless lives in danger. The Shanghai Metro posted an apology online, which said: “Today is a dark day in the history of Shanghai Metro. We feel deeply sorry for the injuries and losses of the passengers no matter what the investigation results will be.”

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