Father or Foe of China high-speed rail

Liu Zhijun China’s railways minister 2003-2011

Mr. Lui known as the father of high-speed railway, due to his remarkable contribution in railway in China has been removed from his post and is now under investigation. Something to think about is how the father of high-speed railway became the foe of people of China.

Mr. Lui succeeded then minister of railway Fu Zhihuan in March 2003.  He had a vision of upgrading the railway system of China to a level no one could match. He aimed to develop China’s railway by large jumps instead of small increments. In small span of time he wanted to give railway in China a whole new dimension. The speed with which the high-speed rail construction took place has overshadowed all such projects in the Unites States. Back in September 2009 the ministry of railway of China announced that the government had planned 42 lines by 2012, with 5,000 miles of track for passenger and fast freight trains that travel at 215 miles per hour. Beside this they also announced 3,000 miles of track for passengers and fast freight train traveling 155 miles per hour. The ministry of railway of China announced such a huge project to be finished in 3-4 years, which would take double the time in the United States. It is common sense to know that if a project this huge would take such little time there would be some glitches.

Ren Xianfeng, a senior analyst interviewing for the Telegraph said that China has been building too quickly. She also said that investment has increased 10 times which is simply unsustainable. She added that with this high-speed construction, there are a couple of issues. First is the quality of the project; the second thing is corruption.

Little did the people of China now that the glitch they were suspecting would cost them lives of 40 of their fellow people.  On 23^rd July there was a collision of high-speed train in Wenzhou, knocking carriages from 60 foot and killing 40 people and injuring 210. Details about the crash can be read in our previous blog. The high-speed rail that was supposed to be the gleaming testament to the country’s progress is now symbol of much that’s wrong with high- speed development. The huge step towards progress is now being questioned for the safety of Chinese.

Beside the collision during the construction many people faced problems. Specially the ones living to close to the new building rails. People had to evacuate their houses just to make way for the tracks. Many people in this process lost their homes, which they could afford after working very hard for years.  This shows that the progress valued more than the people living in China. People are questioning the government how they could give permission for these tracks to be built over residential areas. All of this clearly shows the huge role of corruption that has been played while building these rails.

After the collision Mr. Lui was removed from the post in the ministry after being accused of corruption. Mr. Lui has been put under investigation, being the most senior Chinese official to ever come under such an investigation in years. There have been no details given on exact infringements. Along with Mr. Lui his brother has also been suspended death sentence by court for hiring people to kill a man who had revealed that he is a corrupt official.

All this shows that the roaring development of Chinese high-speed rail came with a lot of problems. China’s corrupt government officials were just thinking about the development and personal benefits rather than the safety of the people who would use these trains. Mr. Lui who was called the father of high-speed rail proved to be nothing but a foe to the Chinese. Not worrying about who will suffer the consequences and keeping his personal motives before the well being of its nation. Many officials have been charged for corruption, which still doesn’t make an end to the problems in Chinese government. This was just a heads up for China to be more careful in the future,  and to slow down its hasty development which comes with more problems than benefits.