The signalling system blamed for playing a part in the fatal high-speed-train crash in Wenzhou is being used in at least 58 railway stations on the mainland, a high-ranking official was reported as saying.
Deputy Railways Minister Peng Kaizhou said on Thursday during the first meeting of the State Council-appointed investigation team that 58 railway stations and 18 repeater stations were using the same signalling system as the Wenzhou South railway station, where the malfunction is said to have occurred, the Beijing Times reports.
In operation since September 2009, the Yongtaiwen rail line, which runs between Ningbo and Wenzhou South, is equipped with lineside signals overlaid with the China Train Control System-2 (CTCS-2).
The system was designed by the Beijing National Railway Research and Design Institute of Signal and Communication, a subsidiary of the China Railway Signal and Communication Corporation, which is a state-owned giant formerly controlled by the Ministry of Railways.
The system is used for mixed-rail-traffic operations with a maximum speed of 250 km/h.
The corporation has a monopoly on the railway-signalling industry through the use of its CTCS-2 system as well as the CTCS-3, used on faster lines.