The second largest train maker in China will recall 54 bullet trains which are used on the new impressive Beijing-Shanghai line for safety reasons, the company said today. The recall of the high-speed trains by China CNR Corp Limited comes three weeks after 40 people were killed in a high-speed rail crash.

The rail accident caused unusually outspoken media coverage amongst the more traditional forms of Chinese media and also prompted a freeze on approvals for new railway projects.

Both trains involved in the accident were actually manufactured by China CNR’s rival, China South Locomotive, but before CNR even announced its recall, the railways ministry said it would cut the number of high-speed trains running on the route by a quarter.

The increasing vocal power that Chinese microblogging websites like Weibo have has also had a significant influence on the pressure felt by the railways ministry.

China is a country conventionally known for the odd bit of conservative oppression but with the advent of increased interweb freedom, Chinese citizens are learning to find their voices more regularly.

Here are a couple of reactions from Weibo:

Wasn’t this locomotive the most advanced type, and put into use only after many tests? So how come the problems were discovered after they were put into operation? What a miracle.

Can we also recall the Ministry of Railways?

China’s minister for State Administration of Work Safety, who is leading the investigation, said in response today:

There were serious flaws in the system design that led to an equipment failure. At the same time, this exposed problems in emergency response and safety management after the failure occurred.

This was a major accident involving culpability that could have been totally avoided.

Initially officials blamed July’s accident on a lightning strike, but then later changed their tune and put the blame on faulty signal technology.

Either way, worries over high-speed rail are likely to force central government leaders to drastically reform the Ministry of Railways and their approach to the billion dollar industry now.

[Source: Reuters via Yahoo]