Shanghai subway trains collide injuring more than 270 (Reuters)

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Two subway trains collided in Shanghai on Tuesday injuring more than 260 passengers, 20 critically, prompting public anger two months after a crash between two high-speed trains and renewing concerns about China’s aggressive rail building plans.

The collision occurred in central Shanghai, near the Yu Yuan gardens, a well-known tourist attraction, after a signal failure meant staff had to direct trains by telephone, though they were also running at slower speeds, state media said.

The official Xinhua news agency said most of the injuries were bruises and bone fractures, and that nobody was in a life-threatening condition.

Ambulances rushed to the Yu Yuan station and emergency personnel carried injured passengers out, Reuters witnesses said.

Shen Jun, 23, who was in the first coach of the train that collided at 2:51 p.m. (0651GMT), said “blood was everywhere.”

“Many people were hurt. Look at the blood on me, on my arm,” pointing at patches of blood on his shirt.

The crash, coming after a collision between two bullet trains in July in eastern China in which 40 people were killed, quickly became the most talked about topic on the wildly popular Twitter-like Sina Weibo service.

“Another accident — what a joke. So much money has been spent, all they’ve built is crap,” wrote “ggirl.”

Some expressed doubt the inevitable probe into the crash would uncover much.

“The relevant department has already set up an investigation team — what is this mysterious department?” wondered “money bag web.”

China’s cosmopolitan business hub is in the midst of an ambitious subway expansion plan. Shanghai now has 11 lines running on more than 400 km of track, as well as a maglev link to its main international airport.

The line the accident occurred on opened only last year. Xinhua said the same line had two system failures in the past two months.

“The alarm bells are ringing again, telling us that in economic development we cannot ignore safety and must not blindly try to follow developed Western countries. We must go one step at a time,” wrote “ordinary interesting person.”

“It seems like we are going to have to revert to ancient times when we walked on foot and communicated with people by shouting. But at least we now have high-tech Weibo,” added Zhao Zinging, also on Sina Weibo.

BOASTED SAFETY RECORD

Shanghai had boasted that collisions could not happen on its subway, saying in 2005 after a similar incident in Thailand that it had high-tech safeguards in place.

“Today is the darkest day in the history of the Shanghai Metro’s operation,” said a news report by Chinese internet company Sina, citing the subway operator’s official microblog about Tuesday’s accident.

“No matter the ultimate cause and responsibility, (we feel) particularly guilty about the harm and losses borne by the public. We will put in our utmost ability to rescue the wounded, resume operations as soon as possible … and cooperate with the relevant departments in the investigation.”

“Even if our apologies pale in comparison to the actual injuries, we are deeply sorry.”

However, the statement on Weibo was later removed. It was unclear why.

The accident in July involving the bullet trains triggered public fury at the government’s perceived slow response and accusations of a cover-up, expressed via microblogging s.

It also raised question marks over technology promoted as a symbol of the nation’s growing prowess.

China said it would suspend new railway project approvals and launch safety checks on existing equipment to address public concern following that crash.

The respected Chinese magazine Caixin reported on its web that the signals used on the Shanghai subway were made by China Railway Signal & Communication Corp. — the same company that was blamed for the faulty signals in the July crash.

Calls by Reuters to the company went unanswered on Tuesday evening.

The high-speed train crash in July reverberated into China’s stock market.

Sources said in August a $5 billion listing plan by the operator of China’s new Beijing-Shanghai bullet train, initially targeted for next year, will be further delayed following July’s train crash.

China Railway Group, the country’s largest railroad builder, said earlier this month it had dropped a plan to raise about 6.2 billion yuan via a share placement due to uncertainty over regulatory approval.

(Additional reporting by Fayen Wong, and Sabrina Mao, Sui-Lee Wee and Michael Martina in Beijing; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Sugita Katyal)

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