China railway sector copes with cold front for safe winter travel

China's railway sector has taken measures to cope with the impact of freezing weather in the season and guarantee transport safety.

A cold wave has swept across many parts of central China's Henan Province, bringing snow and lowering temperatures, severely challenging the railway transportation.

In the provincial capital Zhengzhou, high-speed trains kept coming to a maintenance depot for de-icing. The extremely high speed and complex bogie structures make the high-speed trains prone to absorb ice and snow they stir up in running, likely to compromise the operation safety.

"We have organized workers to use specially designed rubber shovels to clear snow and de-ice in-between the bogies. Meanwhile, for residual ice that is hard to remove, we carry out deeper cleaning with ice-clearing vehicles and high-pressure water jets," said Jin Yun, an official with Zhengzhou railway bureau of the National Railway Administration.

Wuhuan railway bureau in neighboring Hubei Province of central China also took measures to ensure the safety of railway transportation in snowy weather. They have leveraged advantages of network hub to integrate automated system, rationalize operation schedule to ensure the transport of key supplies, and add anti-slip mats and warning signs at railway stations to protect passengers.

Qingdao section of Jinan railway bureau in east China's Shandong Province has also stepped up patrols and inspections of key railway equipment and carried out de-icing in freezing rainy days.