A number of operation failures on new bullet trains have raised public concern about the cutting-edge technology used for speeding up many rail routes from 160 kph to 200 kph.

In less than a month, CRH-5 bullet trains the latest in the series of fast trains were reported to have experienced three breakdowns on the Beijing-Changchun-Harbin line, delaying other trains.

The latest breakdown occurred Sunday morning, when bullet train D26 pulled into Beijing Railway Station at 4:30 am, 4 hours and 52 minutes behind schedule.

After leaving Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang, the train broke down in Siping, a city southwest of Changchun, capital of Jilin.

The air-conditioning system also broke down, and passengers suffered suffocating heat in sealed carriages as the windows took time to open.

Each passenger was given a compensation of 200 to 250 yuan ($26 to 33) for the "poor service" on the first-class train.

The Ministry of Railways blamed some drivers for failing to handle the automatic protection facility properly.

"The facility kicks in whenever it detects even a trivial problem in the train system The sudden breakdown is not because the train's braking system has failed, nor because of problems that jeopardize the train's safety," Beijing-based The First newspaper quoted a ministry official as saying.

China Radio International (CRI) quoted unnamed experts as saying that technology glitches used on some parts of the CRH-5 bullet train may have caused the breakdowns.

The Changchun-made CRH-5 bullet trains use the technology of France-based Alstom but to customize them for Chinese railways, adjustments were made on the shape and capacity of the train, which may have led to the breakdowns, CRI reported.

Experts also attributed the failures to the relatively short trial runs. The CRH-5 started test runs only in February due to late delivery and had a shorter trial period compared to CRH-1 and CRH-2, CRI reported.

In the sixth railway speedup launched on April 18, a total of five CRH-5 bullet trains were put in use, all on the lines to Northeast China.

(China Daily 05/15/2007 page1)