CHR (China High-speed Railway) train D182 stopped on track as power outage 12nd July 2011.
Two weeks after its grand opening that showed off China's hopes for a bright hi-tech future, a flagship high-speed rail line between Beijing and Shanghai has already left passengers stranded for hours on stuffy trains due to power outages.
Travellers waiting for delayed trains also found that the gleaming new stations along the line lacked snack shops and comfortable waiting rooms. An attendant told one waiting passenger to walk to a nearby village to buy toilet paper.
The express was shut down by power failures three times in the two weeks since it opened to great fanfare on June 30. A power cut on Tuesday halted 30 trains.
Its launch was coordinated with the 90th anniversary of the ruling Communist Party and hailed as a sign of modernisation and willingness to invest in top-notch infrastructure.
Clients trapped in Shanghai Hongqiao High-speed Railway station, as power malfuction, on 12nd July 2011
The first cut was caused by lightning hitting the overhead line, while the second remained unexplained, the China Daily reported, though it could have been linked to poor wiring or improper installation.
On Wednesday, one of its trains broke down, forcing hundreds of passengers to transfer to another train to complete their journey, said state news agency Xinhua.
"That malfunctions occur on such a long line when it has been operating for less than two weeks is inevitable and understandable," the newspaper quoted Beijing Jiaotong University engineering professor Wu Junyong as saying.
"Such malfunctions will become less common after it has been operating for a while longer."
The train cuts travel time on the 1,318-km (820-mile) run from the capital to China's financial centre to a mere four hours on a good day.
MAXIMUM SPEED CUT
But the Ministry of Railways has already decided to reduce maximum speed on the line from the promised 350 km per hour (210 mph), to reduce operating costs and in response to a corruption investigation that raised concerns over construction quality.
The power failures have been panned on popular microblogging sites. Passengers complained about being stranded for hours on trains with no air conditioning and with no one telling them what was happening.
The Beijing-Shanghai link is the latest and most feted portion of a network the government hopes will stretch over 45,000 km (28,000 miles) by the end of 2015.
The line is designed to carry 80 million passengers a year, providing heady competition for airlines, with the two-hour flight subject to notorious delays, often caused by thunderstorms.
The Chinese firms that built the lines and the trains are expected to compete for high-speed train contracts overseas, including projects to be tendered in California and Britain.
A line under construction in Turkey is the showpiece for China Civil Engineering Corp, which hopes to win projects elsewhere in Europe.
Foreign rail firms fear China consortia could underbid them overseas after they cooperated on building the Chinese high-speed rail system. Kawasaki Heavy Industries (7012.T) of Japan is fighting Chinese efforts to patent high-speed trains made using Japanese technology.
Communist Party mouthpiece the People's Daily warned on Wednesday that the new Beijing-Shanghai line had to up its game.
"Just relying on high speed is not enough. We must ask: has there been enough preparation for inclement weather?" it said. "In the event of power cuts and delays, how do you take care of passengers and bear the losses?"