segunda-feira, 29 de agosto de 2011

Um grande salto atrás

é o que pode já ter ocorrido com o descomunal dispêndio de recursos levado a cabo pelo estado chinês no desenvolvimento de uma rede ferroviária para comboios de alta velocidade. É pelo menos isso o que se me sugere a avaliar pela descrição dos acontecimentos que motivaram o acidente entre dois comboios chineses de alta velocidade, no passado dia 23 de Julho. Ora reparem:
  • The fast train D301 came upon train D3115 after it was told to slow down by a control station in far-away Shanghai who was getting "red-light zone" messages. Unseen by train engineers, this warning is what D301 should have been receiving.

  • The red-light zone message implied either mechanical failure or a slower moving train ahead, despite this the Shanghai dispatcher allowed D3115 to move ahead slowly -- just as it began to roll it was slammed from behind by D301 at full speed.

  • Red-light zones are a problem for dispatchers who receive bonuses by keeping trains on time and D301's dispatcher was trying to make up for lost time.

  • D3115's dispatcher told the train it could go no faster than 20 mph when just moments before dispatchers from the same office told D3115 to speed up to 120 mph.

  • Experts say that train engineers require three months of training to become proficient. The Chinese ministry allows only ten days.

  • Japan took 10 years to build its 100-kilometer line and China has built several thousand kilometers in the same amount of time.
O resultado do Grande Salto em Frente, de 1958-1962, foi este:


Há cada vez mais razões para supor que a prosperidade chinesa tem muitos pés de barro ou, também num registo maoísta, não passa de um tigre de papel.

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