China blames ‘sloppy management’ for bullet train crash

A LONG-AWAITED government report said design flaws and sloppy management caused a bullet train crash in July that killed 40 people and triggered a public outcry over the dangers of China’s showcase transportation system.

A former railway minister was among 54 officials found responsible for the crash, a cabinet statement said. Several were ordered dismissed from Communist Party posts but there was no word of possible criminal penalties. The report was highly anticipated.

The disaster near the southern city of Wenzhou also injured 177 people and had triggered criticism over the high cost and dangers of the bullet train system, a prestige project that once enjoyed lofty status on a level with China’s manned space program.

The crash, China’s worst rail accident since 2008, also sparked accusations that the government had compromised safety in its rush to develop and raised questions over the consequences of corruption.

Regulations had required the report to be released by November 20. When that date passed, the government offered little explanation, drawing renewed criticism by state media, which have been unusually sceptical about the handling of the accident and the investigation.

The cabinet statement cited serious design flaws and major safety risks and what it said were a string of errors in equipment procurement and management. It also criticised the Railways Ministry’s rescue efforts.

The report affirmed earlier government statements that a lightning strike caused one bullet train to stall and then a sensor failure and mis-steps by train controllers allowed a second train to keep moving on the same track and slam into it.

Those singled out for blame included former Minister of Railways Liu Zhijun, a bullet train booster who was detained in February amid a graft investigation.

Also criticised was the general manager of the company that manufactured the signal, who died of a heart attack while talking to investigators in August.

The decision to assign blame to one figure who already has been jailed and another who is dead, along with mid-level managers who have been fired, suggests further political fallout will be limited.