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Chinese Bullet Trains Collide, At Least 11 Killed, Hundreds Injured
Update: it appears that the crash was the result of two bullet trains colliding. From Reuters: "At least 11 people have died after two high-speed
trains crashed into each other in China's eastern province of Zhejiang
on Saturday, causing two carriages to fall off a bridge, state news
agency Xinhua said."
It was only a matter of time before China's pursuit of infrastructure perfection for the sake of merely recycling trade surplus dollars ended up in casualties. And while its now innumerable ghost cities are unlikely to hurt anyone since they are, well, vacant, the same can not be said about its infrastructure. Earlier today, China's D-Train, a first generation of its bullet train, travelling the Hangzhou to Wenzhou route derailed, with two of its carriages falling off a bridge. The precise number of casualties is as of this moment unknown, although the latest report from Reuters is of 11 killed and 89 injured. We expect the number to be far higher in the end. Just like in the US where none of the massive infrastructure spending as part of ARRA actually went to infrastructure, so China is about to realize that mixing unprecedented corruption and ultra high speeds usually results in very catastrophic consequences.
From the Telegraph:
The train, travelling from Hangzhou to Wenzhou, went off the rails in eastern China's Zhejiang province around 8:30pm (1230 GMT), it reported, citing local firefighting sources.
The D train represents China's first-generation bullet trains. Running on regular track, they are capable of travelling at 150kph and are not part of the new high-speed network.
China is spending billions on building a high-speed rail network, with Premier Wen Jiabao on June 30 formally opening a flagship $33 billion line from Beijing to Shanghai.
That line has suffered problems with delays caused by power outages, sparking a slew of criticism online and in Chinese media.
The huge investment has made the sector a hotbed for corruption. China's state auditor has said construction companies and individuals last year siphoned off 187 million yuan ($29 million) from the Beijing-Shanghai project.
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Behold, invincible China.
On the bright side, casualties are probably pretty low because the train was likely nearly empty, that's just how China rolls.
been there?
You know what they say, once you've seen a Chinese restaurant, you've seen China.
+1
I am going to have to remember that one. Too funny.
Yes, wife's Chinese, thanks. All things being in the eye of the beholder, I see massive oversupply, lots of shoddy construction, blatant corruption and disregard for most individuals who are not well connected. Not saying the EU and US are much less corrupt or more competent but the flavours are different and central planning has a habit of compounding bureaucratic error/corruption. All the best to the Chinese people, they are a truly a fantastic civilization, it's their government I can't stand.
My initial comment did not acknowledge the lives lost and those injured, that was callous and stupid, apologies and good wishes to all those who were affected.
You are a good person.
"they are a truly a fantastic civilization, it's their government I can't stand"
3rd Century Rome, Early 20th Century Germany and Japan, 20th/21st Century China and US... Gee, what are the common threads (and the likely common outcomes)?
so sad...
let's hope Bang Dae Ho, Pow Pow and Shit Hit Fan are oké...
And to think that the Communist Chinese built the new San Fran bay bridge........We sold out to cheap chinese imports..........
The huge investment has made the sector a hotbed for corruption.
This is the principle and simple reason why I want someone else to take their turn as the world's biggest economy, policeman, etc etc. Our government no longer works for us because it is so big and ripe for the picking.
I would feel a little nervous about driving over the Bay Bridge when the new span opens.
It was made for less than bid out of transparent aluminum?
heh, nice ST reference!
One of my favorite ridiculous movie moments was when Scotty sits down in front of the 1990's PC and conjures up the formula for transparent aluminum. Good thing that software was pre-loaded onto the computer.
Scotty: "Computer?"
No response.
Scotty picks up the mouse and puts it to his mouth: "Computer?"
The "local time" actor points to the keyboard.
Scotty: "How quaint."
They downlaoded it to the computer through the printer port using appletalk. LOL
We made the previous one that collapsed during the earthquake.
Probably got the low flush toilets from there too ;-)
The new bridge was made by ZPMC. They make 90% of cargo cranes, worldwide. The have perfected copying our steel making processes. The Chinese can turn out high quality steel, when they choose to. Unfortunately, the massive corruption over there is not an issue of technical ability. So the true irony is that they CAN do great things, but their corruption keeps them from greatness. It is a greek tragedy.
We might be getting ahead of ourselves here. Maybe there was a goat or something on the train tracks that caused the accident.
Hmmm... Never saw a Chinese goat.
yet again the "problem of copying your smart friend's test" rears its ugly head. what if you copy a mistake? and then are told "build it bigger"? I fail to see "the greek" in this one. they were "the original...original thinkers." here's what comes to my mind when i think of Plagiarizers in Chief people:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=a6iW-8xPw3k
Greek tragedies require character flaws in heroic figures. Or retirement by age 53 after sucking the public mammary. This seems like bubblicious greed and crappy managers.
@ Chuck Y,
This is another illustration of why we see in Peru the same thing as others see in many products made-in-China.
A fair amount of Chinese cars have come in (at least 13 different brands of cars and trucks) and word among our bearing customers that the cheap Chinese cars are crap. I guess that is what you would expect, Peru hasd MANY poopr people who will take their chances on a cheap car.
We pretty much have to offer some Chinese bearings to a couple of "Price Nothing Else" segments of our customer base. but we keep a close eye on brand quality. We have had to to decide NOT to buy at least two brands over the years because of irregular quality.
It's a big problem, China using cheap steel and cutting corners.
You forget the bay bridge collapse in 1989 was not Chinese made then. That was 'superior American engineering'
Thankfully, the average Chinese cannot afford to ride it, so the casualties were probably minimal
it was just the coffee house, rich, wanna be grunge types trying to be green.
Not again, so much corruption it's unreal. Only buy plastic from the Chinese, plastic trains etc...
Thieves who wish a long standing relationship with their clients leave the clients with more than scraps and impart a way of life that is caring and compassionate.
Teachers who do not supply value for their fee are soon located and destroyed.
The mind is voracious. It will not put up with second grade goods. Even in the BOHICA line.
thats good, thats what the cpc wants, reduced polpulation
a train derailment is news?
How do you define news?
Why all of the negative comments? China is embracing technology and investing money into its infrastructure. Of course there will be mistakes and learning curves. I hope no one loses their head-literally-over this.
As far as government corruption, NO ONE from the united states should utter a word. The chinese are rank amateurs compared to the us. The federal reserve cheats not only its own citizens, but those all around the world.
+1
No kidding! I didn't know the US was sucha corruption-free land!
The Chinese should have spent a little extra money and hired the Swiss to build their train systems.
When people in Africa complain of "cheap chinese imports'........Communist China has got a problem........BTW, can you name one chinese brand? Most people cant.......This will be their downfall............
GE
Lenovo.
US of A.
Walmart
Chinese vehicle brands in Peru:
-- JMC ("Junk Made in China") trucks
-- JAC trucks
-- Chery QQ car (direct rip-off of GM / Daewoo's Matiz), a real P.O.S.
-- Great Wall cars
-- FAW cars
Many, many others I cannot recall, even from my recent trip!
Chinese bearings:
-- ZWZ (apparently a good brand)
-- Premier
-- QC (LOL there)
-- Delfu (may be a good brand)
-- DRL (NOT a good brand, trust me)
many others, including bearings coming in with NO BRAND, so that local counterfeiters can put on a Japanese, European or Korean brand...
VOLVO
Very unfortunate. I have taken many trips on ICE from Hanover to Berlin back in the day. It certainly beats the Gatwick Express
Someone must of planted a SIV on the rail.
/sarc
Another Chinese miracle illusion? The Chinese miracle will eventually fall victim to a disproportionately aging population. The old one child per family dictate will haunt them.
While I am not even close to being an expert on China, my reading says the same to me. China will not pass us, the only way that happens is if WE fall by the wayside.
Cool & correct diplomacy with China will keep us out of conflict with them, and they will have their own decline when their demography finally insists.
this is all an omen! the world economy is about to come off its tracks!
Boehner just mentioned that dealing with China speed trains are like dealing with a bowl of jello
or maybe he says that about everything.... mmm jello
I'm old enough to remember the negative comments about 'inferior' Japanese goods.
@el Viejo: I'm of the same age. The Japanese even incorporated a city called USA (U-Sah), and put the nominal HQ of every exporter there so that they could print on every product the words "made in USA".
Peru joke about USA:
A group of serranos (think W Virgina) from out in the country near Arequipa are talking. One of them boasts about how he is and has been in the USA. Going on and on about being from the USA.
Another then says, OK sure: Union de Serranos Arquipeños (USA, the Union of Arequipa Rednecks).
[Maybe funnier in Spanish...]
+1
I'm old enough to remember those crappy little (and I mean tiny) Honda cars of the 1970's. Initially, Japan did focus on low-end, mass-produced goods. It was only later in the 80's that they moved up the quality/technology chain.
Implying the Chinese are anything like the Japanese shows your ignorance. The Japanese churned out crap and continually improved their production processes until they were the ones teaching US auto manufacturers how to run their operations (which the US manus ignored) We all know how thast story turned out. The chinese are nothing like the Japanese and I say that having lived in both countries and speaking both languages (although my Chinese gets rustier by the year since I have little desire or need to use it)
It's the height of cultural ignorance to equate the two. You should flog yourself and say three ahil mary's as pennance my son...and meet me in the rectory afterwards.
Fr. Msgr. Touchdapeepee
Didn't you mean to say, "let's meet in your rectumory", Fr. Msgr. Touchdapeepee?
One of the most significant things the Japanese did to change the reputation of "Made in Japan" was to follow the advice Dr. W. Edwards Deming.
I wonder if the Chinese will ever discover that approach.
I also remember when trade policy was about importing what we cannot make ourselves due to lack of needed natural resources or lack of knowledge. The knowledge is now slowly fading.
Oddly enough, the Japanese hired an American, W. Edwards Deming, to teach them how to build quality into their products.
Arrest anyone wearing a Patek Phillipe watch.
Whatever the death toll, add a couple more...they kill their engineers over there when they fail. And I'm not talking about the guy driving the train.
I was thinking the same thing, there will be a few people worried about their own lives right now.
They should have used Rearden metal.
+ 1
Who is the nimrod who would junk that?
"China Treasury Bond holdings Derailed...drop 80% in value as Debtor defaults. Millions injured and starving."
The dollar has lost 20% of its value in the last two years I read. Many economists feel we must continue to devalue the dollar to increase "competitiveness" of exports. What happens when it loses 80% of its value?
We'll see....
OT:
150 human animal hybrids grown in UK labsUK Daily Mail
July 23, 2011
Scientists have created more than 150 human-animal hybrid embryos in British laboratories.
The hybrids have been produced secretively over the past three years by researchers looking into possible cures for a wide range of diseases.
The revelation comes just a day after a committee of scientists warned of a nightmare ‘Planet of the Apes’ scenario in which work on human-animal creations goes too far.
Last night a campaigner against the excesses of medical research said he was disgusted that scientists were ‘dabbling in the grotesque’.
Read full article
2001 A Space Odyssey - ending
Perhaps this was on the tracks....
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2017658/Chinese-villagers-mistak...
Too ugly to eat.
sabra1
Fucking reporter asholes can't even get their Classic Scifi right.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Island_of_Doctor_Moreau
The Island of Doctor Moreau
The next day, Moreau begins working on a puma, and its anguished cries drive Prendick out into the jungle. As he wanders, he comes upon a group of people who seem human but have an unmistakable resemblance to hogs. As he walks back to the enclosure, he suddenly realizes he is being followed. He panics and flees, and, in a desperate attempt at defense, he manages to stun his attacker, a monstrous hybrid of animal and man. When he returns to the enclosure and questions Montgomery, Montgomery refuses to be open with him. After failing to get an explanation, Prendick finally gives in and takes a sleeping draught.
Prendick awakes the next morning with the previous night's activities fresh in his mind. Seeing that the inner door has been left unlocked, he walks in to find a humanoid form lying in bandages on the table before he is ejected by a shocked and angry Moreau. He believes that Moreau has been vivisecting humans and that he is the next test subject. He flees into the jungle, where he meets an Ape Man who takes him to a colony of similarly half-human/half-animal creatures. The leader, a large gray thing named the Sayer of the Law, has him recite a strange litany called the Law that involves prohibitions against bestial behavior and praise for Moreau. Suddenly, Moreau bursts into the colony, and Prendick escapes out the back into the jungle. He makes for the ocean, where he plans to drown himself rather than allow Moreau to experiment on him. Moreau and Montgomery confront him, however, and Moreau explains that the creatures, the Beast Folk, are animals he has vivisected to resemble humans. Prendick goes back to the enclosure, where Moreau explains to him that he has been on the island for eleven years now, striving to make a complete transformation from animal to human. Apparently, his only reason for the pain he inflicts is scientific curiosity. Prendick accepts the explanation as it is and begins life on the island.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet_of_the_Apes_%28novel%29
La Planète des singes, also known as Monkey Planet or Planet of the Apes,[1] is a French 1963 Science fiction-fantasy novel by Pierre Boulle. It was published in the UK as Monkey Planet, then re-issued as Planet of the Apes to tie it in to the film franchise it inspired.
Although Ulysse's patrons Zira and Cornélius are convinced of his intelligence, the society's leading orangutan scientists believe he is faking his understanding of language, because their philosophy will not allow the possibility of intelligent human beings. Ulysse falls in love with a primitive human female, Nova, whom he had met in the forest at the beginning of his visit to the planet. He impregnates her and thus proves that he is the same species as the primitive humans, which lowers his standing in the eyes of many of the apes. Their derision turns to fear with a discovery in a distant archaeological dig and an analysis of memory in some human brains. Evidence is uncovered that fills in the missing history of the apes. In the distant past, the planet was ruled by human beings who built a technological society and enslaved apes to perform their manual labor. Over time the humans became more and more dependent upon the apes, until eventually they became so lazy and degenerate that they were overthrown by their ape servants and fell into the primitive state in which our protagonist found them.
While some of the apes reject this evidence, others (in particular, an old orangutan scientist, Dr. Zaius) take it as a sign that the humans are a threat and must be exterminated. Ulysse learns of this, and escapes from the planet with his wife and newborn son, returning to Earth in the professor's spaceship. Ulysse lands on Earth more than 700 years after he had originally left it, just outside the city of Paris. Once outside the ship, he discovers that Earth is now ruled by intelligent apes just like the planet from which he has fled. He immediately leaves Earth in his ship, writes his story, places it in a bottle, and launches it into space for someone to find. It is at this point in the story that Jinn and Phyllis, the couple who found the bottle, are revealed to be chimpanzees. Jinn and Phyllis dismiss Ulysse's story, saying that a human would not have the intelligence to write the story.
You and every other idiot that believes in anything that the "Daily Mail" publishes might wish to consider the fact that in the UK the "Daily Mail" has as much credibility as your "Fox News" does in the US.
I can't wait until Three Gorges Dam breaks. Hopefully they'll have a dozen nuclear reactors built downstream by that time.
Depends. Did GE build China's dam? Reactor's?
"GE supplied reactor No. 1 at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant 150 miles from Tokyo, where concerns have been mounting after an explosion at the reactor following Friday's quake and tsunami."
"GE defended the design of the now-stricken reactor it supplied to Japan 40 years ago, saying its containment system is safe and reliable. Fukushima-Daiichi's unit 1 is equipped with a GE boiling water reactor with a Mark 1 containment system."
http://seekingalpha.com/article/258666-ge-built-nuclear-reactor-in-japan...
It doesn't matter who built the thing when there's a 50 foot wall of water coming toward it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Gorges_Dam#Other_effects
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2003/may/30/china.naturaldisasters
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_in_the_People's_Republic_of_China
http://www.china.org.cn/english/China/188194.htm
Don't worry. This won't be a problem until it is.
Junk me and forget.
I get it. A train derails and their entire infrastructure system is corrupt. Go to Hong Kong or Beijing and witness flawless MTR service... modern, clean, efficient... kicking ass.
But but look at the fantastic high speed passenger rails systems in the US ... clean, modern and non-existent
What was the last thing to go through the heads of the now dead?
.
.
.
Their assholes.
Parroting those above, at least the Chinese are trying to embrace current technology. Ever seen the Amerikan rail system? It is so 1880's...
+1
I guess people prefer the ever-widening congested freeways we have.
and the endless traffic fines
and a system that will not work with peak oil
When did investing in infrastructure become such a bad thing? What should they do with their surplus money? Invest it in US Treasuries? Euro bonds? LOL!
All those that are talking bad about their infrastructure investments are going to look stupid someday.
And this is coming from someone who does not even like the Chinese or their products.
Cutting corners with drywall and dog food is one thing. Cutting corners with high speed trains and mega dams is something totally different. The Chinese are out of their league.
Just wait until they start shipping out airplanes. Autos will be scarey enough. They just do not have the culture of quality control that the Japanese have. Not to say the Ameritards are any better at this point. Perhaps Mao-like starvation under the policies of Hopey will sharpen that focus over a generation or two.
Just wait until they start shipping out airplanes. Autos will be scarey enough. They just do not have the culture of quality control that the Japanese have. Not to say the Ameritards are any better at this point. Perhaps Mao-like starvation under the policies of Hopey will sharpen that focus over a generation or two.
+++
I have to take a Xanax just to get on a plane (Boeing or Airbus).
NO WAY I will fly in a Chinese plane! Our experience in Peru with poorly made cars & trucks tells me what I need to know.
Sorry to here. But lets not politicise EVERYTHING ALL THE TIME.
go to the lego board... last thing not politicised
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-23/iranian-nuclear-scientist-is-as...
Gee.
These scientists.
They die like flies.
Especially when they are Iranian and build nuclear weapons.
Cause of death: Stuxnet virus.
I've been reading about "contagion" in Europe a lot lately -- probably jumped to the Middle East... :>D
Bottom line is that the sheer size and scope of the population in China will quickly absorb all the excess capacity.
And Chinese stocks are still way undervalued.
When the Hong Kong RE market pops and after a brief correction, money will eventually flee back into Shanghai and Hong Kong stock markets just like what occurred here in the U.S.
I believe that one day within the next 5 years the Chinese market is going to go into a bubble which will go down in the history books as the greatest of all time.
We've just experienced one of the fastest, steepest, greatest stock runs in U.S. history, we will all look back on 2009 - 2011 when we are in our 70's and realize that the last two years was possibly a once in a lifetime opportunity to make the easiest money possible in stocks.
But I think down the road, the Chinese stock market bubble will dwarf the rally we just experienced in retail and REIT stocks here in the U.S.
Thanks for the comment RobotT. I will be watching.
I do have great doubts about China's long term ability to hold it all together. Their history teaches us that they screw it up every time they are on the verge of becoming great.
All you have to know is that the party members send their children abroad, with bags of corruption cash, to establish the good-life. Then, when the inevitable implosion of China occurs, they will flee themselves, along with the prerequisite bags of corruption cash. No one cares about the long term, even as they talk about grand long term plans. All short term thinking, sponsored of course by Goldman Sachs.
My condolences to the chinese people. I am sorry for the loss. These things happen. However, at this stage, I believe it is beneficial to slow down development and focus on the sustainability and reliability of such projects, and also the economy in general.
I like the "at least 11 dead" part. LOL. Please, there's probably 11 in the front seat alone. I was kinda wondering if they built things any better over there than the crap they send here, apparently not. I don't want to hear any amtrack comments, im busy bashing china at the moment.
Well... if it were Amtrack I might believe that "at least 11 dead" part.
China sends a LOT of cheap but crap vehicles to Peru.
There's been so much information that has come out that made this outcome so predictable. Last week I even wrote "Trouble Already with China’s Choo Choos." "I've mentioned before how bribes, property theft, shoddy construction, heaps of debt, and projects that make no financial sense have combined to create a potential disaster in China’s much envied (by the left) high speed rail system. I set the over under for a major wreck, that will halt expansion, trigger bankruptcies, and leave half built projects, at 5 years. Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley goes on to recommend investments in the industry, likely in an effort to push their investment banking business."
In April, wrote "it normally takes 10 years to build an overseas rail network, but only 2 years in China. A source working for a foreign company that supplies construction materials for China’s high-speed railways told Caixin tight delivery deadlines were sometimes met with lower quality control measures. Another railway engineer expressed concern over the structural stability of railways lines from land subsidence issues."
Next will be bankruptcies, as the ministry of railways has accumulated about 2 trillion in debt.
Side story : A family member had an exchange student from China whose family was associated with the rail business. He dressed in Prada and Louis Vuitton. All he wanted to do was go shopping.
We are about to witness one of the biggest implosions in history. The entire country is built on a system with corruption, fraud, and oppression at it's core. China is going to have to start over.
People die everyday in transport accidents - this crude linkage to Zero hedges morality tales is well crude.
How many people die yearly in American traffic incidents again ?
The news is that there has been a collision. The rest is spin and derailment.
Opinion and spin from me: I do see this as an instance where faster mass transit makes for the possibility of bigger disasters. But that is true of much of our tech now (nuclear power, bigger delivery-bigger disaster possibilities). When is efficient not efficient?
Peak efficiency occurs when the quality and value of human life becomes degraded by further advances in the technology in question. Efficiency is a curvilinear function. We can see this idea at work in the economy in general.
"Peak efficiency occurs when the quality and value of human life becomes degraded by further advances in the technology in question" Indeed. But life (human) isn't only being degraded by technology, it is being degraded moreso by the liberal left and moral relativists (is there a diff?) who have devalued it to the point where such life is on par with animals, plants and the environment. Once the reference point for morality becomes unhinged and placed on a sliding scale, all bets are off. Rationalizations take place and the rest so to speak is history.
dupe. apologies
like the A-Bomb
Any American making snide comments about Chinese passenger rail infrastructure needs to take a (slow) ride on AMTRAK.
Make sure your life insurance is paid up to date.
On the other hand, you would be just as likely to die of old age before reaching your destination.
They have my sympathies.
Evilly, I can't stop thinking "Two trains depart from two locations twenty miles apart in China. If Train A leaves at..."
Obviously it is bad, but seeing some pictures of regular train wrecks, considering this is 'high speed', and elevated, I see only a couple of cars off the track. They must of slowed down, and this could of been far worse. If two bullet trains collided head on, normal/full speed, I'd guess that we'd see nothing left on the track that resembled a train car. Just twisted steel, and since it's elevated, very little on the track.
Obviously horrible, but I'm surprised to see anything left. (going on picture above, for some reason the vid link isn't working for me)
If someone else posted on this general thought earlier, then I apologize. My first guess would be concrete failure. As I understand it, these fools ran out of a critical ingredient in making proper concrete. The show had to go on though.
If true, expect many more such occurrences. China is fucking nuts. No way is such rapid expansion going to go smoothly. Such rapid growth/change won't produce the desired outcomes. To many seemingly irrelevant but critically important steps being left out.
Like...DAH! Individuals being allowed to participate in a free and open market. The central planners are to far removed to effectively accomplish the stated goals in a clean way, and the lieutenants in charge on site are corrupt bastards who are in it mainly for self interest and to avoid accountability in regard to failure in producing unrealistic outcomes.
Kind of like the office, but different?
Just to free flow with my last comment: We all love to hate on apple, google, blah, blah, blah. But a point worth considering is that these wildly successful corporations are miles ahead of the 'collectivist' crowd. They embrace the 'hive'. Successful corporations understand that letting go of central control is the surest path to the best destination.
State the goal and let the competition for acheivement of the goal loose into the crowd.
Capitalism has been tarnished as some sort of dirty word only because the lazy and stupid don't like competition. Fact is that fully human animals unchained are some of the most marvelous creatures ever devised. It is only the cancer of manipulation by narcissistic whoreish politicians and 'rule' makers that sullies us and after raping our natural state, they blame us?
Government is a disease.
I have and am still in Shanghai as I write. I took the bullet train twice last week from Shanghai to Nanjing and Taian to Shanghai with the second being nearly empty and I was the only one in first class after a complementary upgrade for foreigners. Smoke and mirrors can take a number of forms.
I am also an involuntary gropee.
How come when a train derails in China everybody is all over China with the corruption and super low-quality accusations? So I guess Europe has never had a train crash? Certainly never in America? And if Chinese cars are so crappy.... how come the government won't let me buy one? Same reason the .gov bombed the Yugo factories. What was that reason?