I led a student Rail Study Trip to China last March and we covered most of the new CRH lines; we rode part of the new Shanghai-Beijing line (not then fully opened), and the entire Wuhan-Guangzhou line at 350 kph.  Most impressive.  We also rode the new coastal line from Fuzhou to Shanghai. The recent accident occurred on the latter line, which IS NOT one of the super high-speed lines, with top speeds of only 200-kph, and the equipment involved was the older, fast train equipment that is used on many D-class trains on conventional rail lines in China.  That equipment has never impressed me from a ride quality standpoint.  It was not the velvet smooth G-class equipment, of various designs,  found on the true CRH lines.   Still, a signal failure is just that, and the political fallout in China has been enormous, even if much of the press coverage has been just plain wrong.    August 22, 2011

This enewletter is a PDF file  on this webpage and because of that you will not be able to click on links to the stories named in this enewletter. If you would like an emailed copy of this enewsletter or to subscribe to it email [email protected]