Doubt cast on German high-speed equipment
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, May 11, 2012
A German railway products maker has been providing substandard equipment for use on China's high-speed railways, a magazine investigation has claimed.
Cast-in channels produced by Halfen Group would rust easily even before they were incorporated into concrete structures, posing a potential danger, a report in the Century Weekly magazine said.
The cast-in channels produced by Halfen were first used on a high-speed rail line in 2005. The company soon established a branch in Beijing as the country embarked on rapid rail development.
The company says its products have been used on more than 20 rail projects in China including the Shanghai-Beijing and Beijing-Tianjin high-speed lines.
Despite domestic manufacturers developing their own cast-in channels and other relevant technologies, Halfen retains the biggest share of the market, according to the magazine, despite its prices being higher.
The channels are used to support other equipment like wires, signals and electrical devices. They are supposed to be crush-proof and rust-proof. But the report said that along the under-construction Shanghai-Kunming line, zinc coating on the channels was defective, which would lead to rusting.
Other sources showed that the products were made in China, not imported from Germany, the report said.
A video clip acquired by the magazine showed the zinc coating was applied in Chinese factories, it said.
The German company did not reply yesterday to an e-mailed request from Shanghai Daily for an interview.
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