The Chinese government said Friday that it will start safety checks on its high-speed railways from mid-August to mid-September to prevent major accidents.
The checks aim to "thoroughly eliminate risks" concerning high-speed railways and "effectively prevent and resolutely curb" major railway accidents, according to a notice posted on the government's website, www.gov.cn.
The detailed notice followed its order on Wednesday to launch overall safety checks on the country's high-speed railways in the wake of a fatal train collision that killed 40 people near the city of Wenzhou in eastern Zhejiang Province last month.
The inspection will be applied to operational high-speed railways and those under construction that run at 200 km per hour or higher speeds, the notice said. The investigation will be carried out by 12 teams composed of government officials and technical experts, it added. Officials of Ministry of Railways are not on the list.
The move targets 10 local railways authorities including Beijing, Shenyang, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Wuhan, Zhengzhou, Xi'an, Jinan and Nanchang, it said.
Equipment manufacturers such as China South Locomotive and Rolling Stock Corporation, China CNR Corporation, and China Railway Signal and Communication Corporation will also face checks, according to the notice.
China CNR Corporation said Friday in its statement filed to the Shanghai Stock Exchange that it will recall 54 CRH 380BL trains used on the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway over safety concerns after announcing the suspension of delivery of such bullet trains for flaws in their automatic braking systems.