Drills to prepare for fires, explosions and mass incidents at large train stations in Olympic host cities and areas most at risk from terrorism will be carried out this year, the Ministry of Railways said last week.
Exercises to prepare for chaotic situations, such as a breakdown of the ticket sales system, train dispatch system or capital management system, are also planned, spokesman Wang Yongping said.
In addition, five projects to improve railway safety and management will get under way this year, he said. The projects are an inspection system for the new 300-kmh passenger railway between Beijing and Tianjin, a gale warning system to protect against trains being blown off their tracks, a video surveillance system, a railway information sharing platform, and an emergency response training base.
“The projects will enhance the railway department’s capabilities to handle extreme weather events, such as blizzards, typhoons and floods,” Wang said.
The increased attention on emergency-handling measures comes after a crisis in January in which blizzards paralyzed many railways, highways and airlines in southern China.
The public laid much of the blame for the subsequent chaos at the doors of government transportation departments, saying they were unprepared. It was particularly critical of the Ministry of Railways.
Guo Xiling, vice-chairman of the Guangzhou committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, was also critical of the ministry.
Many electric trains were unable to run when power lines snapped under the weight of snow, stranding thousands of passengers either on trains or at stations.
While deadlines for the completion of four of the new projects have yet to be set, the establishment of the information-exchange platform for use by the ministry, railway bureaus and train stations will be completed by the end of the year, Wang said.
“The ministry will organize inspection teams in the fourth quarter to ensure all is going to plan,” he said.

from: chinadaily.com.cn

Beijing’s motor vehicle total will reach 3.35 million in August, when the Olympics will be staged, according to sources with the Municipal government Thursday.
With a daily growth of 1,300 vehicles, the city is faced with increasing problems of congestion and pollution. Up to Tuesday, the city has seen a total of 3.23 million vehicles.
More than two million of the vehicles are cars, according to the Beijing Municipal Traffic Management Bureau.
The traffic ban will be imposed during the Olympic Games, with the vehicle owners affected compensated by the government, said an official with the municipal government. The government official said that the plan was being drafted and the amount of compensation has not yet been decided.
Automobiles, excluding taxis, buses and emergency vehicles, are to stay off the roads every other day in accordance with the even and odd numbers on the license plates. Half of the many government vehicles in the city will also be off the road at any one time, but it is not known how many vehicles will affect.
The ban is aimed to ensure better air quality during the sport events in Beijing.
Beijing tested a traffic ban from August 17 to 20 last year, removing 1.3 million or one third of automobiles from its streets, which, according to an earlier report, reduced exhaust emissions by 40 percent each day.
The air quality seemed improved during the four-day trial, with the pollution index standing between 93 and 95, down from 116 on the day prior to the test. A level of 116 would be misty, with visibility significantly impaired.
Several Chinese cities, including Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai have considered congestion fees in recent years.
East China’s Jiangsu province capital Nanjing city is considering the concept of leving a fee on vehicles entering the city center during peak times.
There are no plans to introduce congestion charging in Beijing in time for the Olympics.

from: chinadaily.com.cn 

Beijing will buy 2,800 buses to expand the city’s reserve and replace outdated buses in preparation for the Olympic Games, according to Liu Xiaoming, director of the Beijing Municipal Transport Commission.
In addition, the city’s transportation department will open 34 bus routes to the Olympic venues, he told the Beijing Daily.
Liu also promised to make at least 19 night bus routes available during the Olympic Games, including the seven routes already in service. Most of Beijing’s bus routes stop operating between 23:00 and 5:00 at present.
In recent years, Beijing has spent big money to improve transport infrastructure and prioritize public transportation. Since 2007 bus travelers have benefitted from a low-cost, pre-paid bus card system. As of now, more than 16 million cards have been sold, and a daily average of 10 million commuters is registered.

from: beijing2008.cn 

For the first time in the history of Beijing’s subway system, 24-hour subway service will be offered during the opening and closing days of the Beijing Olympic Games, subway corporation sources said.

The subway is expected to account for the bulk of passenger transportation on the Olympic opening day on August 8, 2008, when some 100,000 people are expected to attend the opening ceremony at the main stadium of the “Bird’s Nest,” which has a capacity of about 90,000. In addition, over 10,000 artists, security officers and other personnel will also need to evacuate the venue after the ceremony is over.

To ensure the timely exit of spectators, the subway will enter a “peak operation time” 30 minutes ahead of the windup of the opening and closing ceremonies, with a minimum interval of three minutes, sources were quoted by Xinhua as saying.

According to the Beijing Daily, the subway will extend its operating hours during the Olympic Games from August 8 to 24, and a “green passage” will be opened at subway stations for Olympic ticket-holding spectators, Games organizers and volunteers, who will be exempted from paying the two-yuan subway fee.

from: beijing2008.cn

The civil aviation authority said on Thursday that stricter security checks would soon be implemented to guarantee passenger safety.
The announcement came in the wake of a foiled terrorist attempt on a Beijing-bound passenger plane last Friday.
The General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC) said in a new release that the new measures include increasing hand luggage inspections and body checks, as well as ending express check-in services currently enjoyed by frequent flyers.
The CAAC is also drafting more rules to ban carry-on liquid items on domestic flights after at least two liquid-filled cans smelling of alcohol were found in the foiled plot.
For passengers on international and regional flights, security check rules will remain unchanged, the authority said.
At present, according to rules adopted last May, all liquids carried in hand luggage on international flights must be held in containers with a capacity of no more than 100 milliliters.
The containers should be placed in a transparent, resealable bag with a maximum capacity of 1 liter.
Each passenger will be allowed to carry just one bag.
Exemptions will be made for baby milk and baby food in the baby’s presence as well as medications with prescriptions.
Although domestic flyers have previously been subject to more lax security checks, stricter security checks than those before international flights are likely to be introduced in the not-to-distant future.
The CAAC declined to reveal any details of the new rules yesterday, but the Shanghai-based Oriental Morning Post reported that all bags containing liquids of any description, even those containing baby milk, would all have to be checked in.
The report suggested that parents would have to request formula when buying tickets, and flight attendants would in turn provide it.
Some local airports confirmed they had already tightened security before the CAAC news release.
Gao Zhengpu, an official with Shanghai Airport Authority, said that the two airports in the city had both tightened their security check.
“Security staff open up and smell every bottled liquid in carry-on bags,” he was quoted as saying by Oriental Morning Post.
According to Gao, greater security checks have slowed passenger flow.
Every 10 minutes, no more than 15 are checked through, as opposed to 30 every 10 minutes previously.
Zhu Kelin, an official with the East China branch of the CAAC, told China Daily that the administration would soon issue detailed implementation measures.

from: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/olympics/2008-03/14/content_6535178.htm

Beijing is gearing up preparations for the Summer Olympics in appointing a state-level agency to ensure security and roping off more than 280 km of roads exclusively for the Games.
The security agency groups the Ministry of State Security, the Ministry of Public Security and the armed forces, Beijing Vice Mayor Liu Jingmin said here on Wednesday, 149 days before the start of the August Games.
China has also drafted plans for emergencies during the event, enhanced exchanges and coordination with foreign security organizations, and stepped up training for security staff as well other people involved in the Games, said Liu, also executive vice president of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG).
He said security is a major consideration in the capital’s construction of Olympic venues and the new terminal at Beijing airport.
“We believe security will be ensured during the Beijing Olympic Games,” he said at a press conference on the sidelines of the First Session of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.
To ease traffic woes in a city with 17 million people and more than 3 million registered motor vehicles, Beijing will copy Sydney and Athens’ practice to separate Olympic traffic from others, said Liu.
In addition to the 280-km special lanes, Beijing will also follow other successful international experiences to impose traffic bans during the Olympiad.
Beijing tested a traffic ban from August 17 to 20 last year, removing 1.3 million or one-third of the city’s automobiles every day from its gridlocked streets in accordance with the even and odd numbers on license plates. The test reduced traffic on main roads and exhaust emissions by 30 and 40 percent respectively.
During the Games, some vehicles from other provinces may have to bypass Beijing to ease the capital’s traffic burden. “This, however, will not apply to trucks bringing food supplies to Beijing,” Liu said.
The host city has completed construction of 37 of the 38 Olympic venues and 44 of the 45 Beijing-based Olympic drill facilities, he said.
The Olympic Village will open on July 27 and close on September 20 after the Paralympics.
Besides accommodation for athletes, the Olympic Village will have recreational facilities, shopping centers and a square where national flags of all participating nations will be raised, said Olympic champion paddler Deng Yaping, now a BOCOG official, at the same press conference.
Preparations are now in full swing for the opening and closing ceremonies. The first group of participants started rehearsals in August, said Liu.
He said China’s meteorological departments will provide weather forecasts on an hourly basis to prevent bad weather conditions from affecting the opening and closing ceremonies, and to ensure a successful torch relay to Mount Qomolangma (Mount Everest), the world’s highest peak.
The Olympic Flame will be relayed to 19 cities on five continents before coming to China. It arrives in Beijing on August 8.

from: chinadaily.com.cn

The traffic ban for the Olympics will not be imposed until July, one month before the opening of the Games, a senior city official said Wednesday.

“The traffic ban will not be imposed too early it should be in July,” Ji Lin, vice-mayor of Beijing and NPC deputy, said.
To ensure smooth traffic for the Beijing Games, which will open on Aug 8, the host city has promised to order vehicles to stay off roads every other day, according to even- and odd-numbered vehicle license plates.

Some vehicles belonging to government departments and State-owned enterprises will also be affected.
“The traffic ban will be carried out in two stages. The first stage will restrict some vehicles of government departments and enterprises and more measures will be taken to get rid of polluting vehicles,” Ji said on the sidelines of the ongoing annual NPC session.
“As for imposing the ‘even and odd numbers’ rule on a large scale, it will be conducted before the opening of the Games,” Ji said.

Owners of private cars will receive financial compensation, Ji said. He gave no details of the plan.
“The details are still under discussion and will be released later by related government departments,” he said.
Ji also said that the impact of the move on members of the public will be reduced as much as possible.
“To facilitate travel, 1,800 more buses will be added to routes and some of them will have their operating times extended,” Ji said.
“By the end of June, subway No 10, the Olympic brand line and the subway linking the airport will be put in use.
“They will also offer more choices for travel in the city,” he said.
A command center for the smooth operation of the whole capital during the Olympic sporting event will also be set up, headed by Beijing mayor Guo Jinlong.
The center will consist of all related agencies of the municipal government, including the transport, power supply and security departments.
“It is our responsibility to fulfill our commitment to ensuring a smooth running of the whole city for the duration of the Games,” Ji said.
“At the same time, hosting the Olympic Games is a good opportunity for us to improve our city operations.
“These advanced operations will last for a long time after the Games and continue to benefit our city.”

from: chinadaily.com.cn

The first China-made bullet train designed to run at 300 kilometers per hour has completed a test run and will be in service between Beijing and Tianjin in early August, a railway official said on Sunday.
“A train prototype rolled off the production line in December and has completed a test run,” said Shao Liping, director of the railway authority in Nanning, capital of the southern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
The new train is expected to be running along a 117-km intercity railway beginning August 1, a week before the opening of the Beijing Olympic Games.
It will reduce the travel time between Beijing and Tianjin to around 30 minutes from the current 70 to 80 minutes, said Shao on the sidelines of the annual session of China’s parliament.

Shao said the train, the latest model in the China Railway High-speed (CRH) Series, will be produced jointly by manufacturers in Qingdao of the eastern Shandong Province, and Tangshan of the northern Hebei Province.
In the meantime, Shao said Ministry of Science and Technology and Ministry of Railways are carrying out research on a 350-km-per-hour train for the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway that has been under discussion for years.
At present, China’s fastest self-developed trains run at a service speed up to 250 km per hour. Those trains, which debuted last April, link Beijing with Harbin, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

from: chinadaily.com.cn 

Air passengers will be guaranteed safety during the upcoming Beijing Olympics, a senior civil aviation official said Monday.
Li Jiaxiang, head of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), was speaking on the sidelines of the ongoing NPC session in reference to the foiled attempt on Friday to crash a passenger jet bound for Beijing.
“China’s civil aviation industry adopts very tight security measures, which in recent years have been among the best in the world,” Li said.
“We have the capability to guarantee the safety of airline passengers.”
A China Southern Airlines flight that took off from Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, was forced to make an emergency landing on Friday at Lanzhou, capital of neighboring Gansu province, because “some people were attempting to create an air disaster“, Nur Bekri, chairman of the Xinjiang regional government, said on Sunday.
The Southern Metropolis News quoted an unnamed source yesterday as saying at least two people, including an 18- or 19-year-old girl, were involved in the attempt.
An air hostess smelled a faint odor of gasoline and traced it to the girl, who was put under restraint, the paper said. The suspect was trying to ignite the fuel to cause an explosion in the airplane, the newspaper quoted a CAAC circular as saying.
The paper also said loopholes in the safety procedures at Xinjiang airport were to blame.
Although declining to comment on the accusation, Li, the former head of Air China, the nation’s largest airline company, said “measures will be taken to strengthen the safety of air transportation” for the upcoming Beijing Games.

from: chinadaily.com.cn

Hundreds of Hong Kong residents have applied to become temporary drivers during the Olympics, reported the China News Agency on Monday. If drivers do a good job without any complaints from their clients, they are entitled to 1,000 HK dollars, the report said.
The local Dah Chong Hong (Motor Service Centre) Ltd has started its recruitment of temporary drivers, who would be on duty from late July to mid September and whose main duties would focus on chauffeuring relevant officials and athletes taking part in the equestrian events.
The drivers will also be responsible for taking athletes and officials sightseeing.
Applicants’ requirements are: a middle school diploma; three years of driving experience; fluency in English and some Chinese.
The report said applicants without criminal records are eligible to apply for jobs, and they will undergo tight background checks, as their jobs would involve interaction with leading officials.

from: beijing2008.cn