China's recalled bullet trains to resume operation after modifications

China will gradually resume the operation of 54 bullet trains previously recalled over safety concerns following a fatal high-speed train crash in July, the Ministry of Railways (MOR) said Monday. "After a three-month process of modifications and repeated tests, previously reported problems with the CRH 380BL trains have all been fixed. Operations will gradually resume starting from Wednesday," an MOR official told Xinhua under the condition of anonymity. Six of the 54 recalled trains will resume service on the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway on Wednesday, according to the official. "If everything goes well, all the recalled trains will resume service by Dec. 6," he said, without providing further information. China's state-owned train maker, China CNR Corp. (CNR), announced on Aug. 12 the recall of 54 trains it supplied for the high-speed rail link between Beijing and Shanghai. The trains, all CRH 380BL models, were to be investigated for equipment failure and modified accordingly. The recall came three weeks after 40 people were killed in a high-speed train crash, an incident which triggered public fury in China. Before the recall, Beijing-based CNR had decided to suspend the delivery of the CRH 380BL trains, citing flaws in their automatic braking systems. CNR blamed the problems on quality defects with outsourced parts and components, without naming the manufacturers in question.