Upon hearing the news of the high-speed train collision in China Saturday, many Koreans might have murmured: will ours be okay?
Korail wasted no time in releasing a press release, saying KTX trains are safe from lightning strikes and are equipped with an automatic train control system (ATCS).
If so, good for them! But there can be numerous other reasons, mechanical and human, for the 300 kilometer-per-hour trains facing disastrous mishaps. Even in Europe and Japan, the frontrunners in bullet train systems, accidents occurred because of faulty wheels or failure to slow down at a bend.
Unfortunately, the state rail company’s track record shows it is far closer to its Chinese counterpart than to advanced ones, in the three major elements of super-speed rail systems ― machinery, maintenance and management. Most worryingly, both Korea and China seem to put something else ― namely the export or national brands ― ahead of safety.
KTX trains have seen 36 breakdowns and accidents, big and small but none fatal, this year alone, including derailment, sudden stopping and resultant delays and waiting. The older trains imported from France are experiencing problem in the timely replacement of parts, while new, domestically-built ones have yet to prove their mechanical completeness. The Korail president, a former police chief, fired 3,000 maintenance workers, and even had a student engineer behind the controls.
Right after the Chinese accident, which left 43 people dead and about 200 others injured, the transportation ministry announced 36 safety steps, in addition to the 46 measures unveiled only a few months ago. Noticeable for its belatedness was its decision to run an ``independent team” exclusively responsible for checkups and maintenance, and replace parts and components earlier than originally scheduled.
A Korail spokesman then stunned the people by saying, ``As it would take some time to secure old-model parts, we will likely have to brace for some more accidents.” It’s hard to know whether the official was joking over a matter that can decide the life and death of numerous passengers or was he just reflecting the widespread complacency and easygoing work ethics characteristic of state companies here. Pitied are the KTX passengers, including many daily commuters from central areas, for whom their ride could turn into a horrific experience until next June or so.
All this explains why people can’t help but have high expectations on the special audits into Korail by the government’s top administrative watchdog.
The Board of Audit and Inspection must get to the bottom of everything related with the management of the state rail company, starting from the mechanical problems of locally-produced trains to their loose maintenance system and to operational expertise by engineers and central controllers.
If the state auditors find problems in any of these key areas, the government should punish responsible Korail officials, including its head, and suspend part ― if not all ― of its operations until the ministry and Korail finds satisfactory solutions.
Korean officials should learn from the Chinese accident that speed means nothing without safety. Any more accidents, large or small, will show they have not.