Breaking News - Beijing’s torrential rain highlights inadequate transport infrastructure
On the evening of July third, heavy rainfall in Beijing and ninety percent of flights were delayed at the Capital Airport. The airport highway was temporarily closed. Power at Chongwenmen Subway Station was cut due to flooding, resulting in the main north-south train route being cut off for three hours, stranding many passengers.
Beijing Meteorological Observatory issued an amber rainstorm signal that evening, and at nine pm, at Chongwenmen Subway Station passengers’ hall someone suddenly shouted, “Hurry, Get out of the Subway” and passengers all ran out of the subway.
The subway company said that rainwater inundated the underground ticket hall, and the ceilings of the hall’s high-voltage substation had been leaking. The situation was critical and the only way out was to cut off the power. Staff stacked sandbags at the entrance and pumps were pumping out water up to half a foot in depth.
No problems occurred at the Metro Line two of the station, but the entrances and exits at the brand new Metro Line five, could not sustain a test of heavy rainfall that fully exposed the weaknesses in Beijing’s most advanced transport infrastructure.
One month away from the opening of the Olympic Game, officials are concerned if Beijing’s public transport will be paralyzed during the Olympics, if torrential rain strikes.
Leave a comment, a trackback from your own site or subscribe to an RSS feed for this entry.
trackback rss feed
Leave a Reply