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China is once again operating the world's fastest train service after a speed cap was lifted:
China increased the maximum speed of bullet trains on the Shanghai-Beijing line to 350 kilometers per hour yesterday, six years after a fatal accident led to a speed cap. The limit was reduced to 300kph after 40 people died in a high-speed train crash near Wenzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, in July 2011.
The decision to increase the speed means that China once again has the world's fastest train service. The new limit cuts the time of the 1,318-kilometer journey between Shanghai and the capital to four hours and 28 minutes, saving passengers nearly an hour. A total of 14 trains a day will run between the two cities at the higher speed.
Also at Xinhua and NextBigFuture.
(Score: 2) by moondrake on Saturday September 23 2017, @10:23PM (4 children)
Why are you implying that "foreign" design had anything to do with the accident?
From your own wikipedia link, it seems a signal failure was the cause.
And "China's own design"? Really? You mean after copying the design for the first generation, they now learned enough to produce their own (lets not forget that they have been accused of patent infringement according to your link). They do the same with subway systems. Buy several designs from foreign companies, then copy what works best.
Unfortunately they often cut corners when doing the copying (anecdotal evidence based on having lived there for a long time).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 24 2017, @12:57AM (1 child)
You think this is unusual for any field? Everyone starts from scratch when they build something? No one learns from others mistakes?
(Score: 2) by moondrake on Sunday September 24 2017, @10:32AM
No. And they can copy trains all they want as far as I am concerned (I am not a big proponent about IP, although I do think you should acknowledge where the idea came from. If there is no money involved, this would be easier).
I was merely objecting to the idea that the "foreign design" was somehow the cause of the accident and that now it was all better. This I doubt for the reasons stated.
Also, I have to say that many people in the Chinese research community I worked in tended to blur the line between what is mine and what is thine without giving proper attribution. IThey acknowledge people that are important (in a guanxi sense), not necessarily people that actually made a contribution (which was usually OK for me as I was important enough). I know it is a cultural thing, but it is still sometimes hard to deal with, especially when you want to point it out to them because if they lose face because of the pointing out, they will blame you, not themselves.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Sunday September 24 2017, @05:00PM (1 child)
America industrialized shortly after Britain by doing the same thing. They copied and stole tech shamelessly. As annoying as China's doing the same can be, it's hypocritical to pan them for it.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by moondrake on Monday September 25 2017, @07:21AM
I am not from the US though...
And as I said, I do not care about the copying. I do care about the attitude (maybe USians have the same attitude, if so, I probably do not like that either).