AFuxingtrainsetsofffromBeijingSouthRailwayStationforShanghaionJuly1XINHUAAttheendof2017,thelengthofChina’srailwaynetworkwas127,000km.Ofthis,therewere25,000kmofhigh-speedlineswithadesignedtopspeedof350kmperhour,accountingfor66.3percentoftheglobaltotal.Thelengthofhigh-speedrailwaysisexpectedtoreach30,000kmby2020,coveringover80percentofcitieswithapopulationofmorethan1million.
ZhaoXiaoqin,bornin1984,hasworkedoneightdifferenttypesoftrainsinher15-yearcareerandhaswitnessedthegreatchangesonthetracks.
Fromfasttofaster
Zhaostartedworkingonthetrainsin2003withtheencouragementofheroldersister,whowasalsoarailwayworker.ShefirstworkedaboardaT97,apassengertrainbetweenBeijingandKowlooninHongKong.Atthetime,itwasafairlyadvancedtrain,equippedwithairconditioningandcomfortableseats.TstandsforTekuai,orsuperfast,andthespeedwasalittleover110kmperhour.
“Eachofusontheservicecrewwasinchargeofonecarriage,whichincludedofferingservicesandkeepingeverythingclean,”Zhaosaid.“Duringholidays,thetrainwasalwaysfullypackedandourmissionwassimplytogetthepassengerssafelytotheirdestinations.”
Oneofthedutiesoftheservicecrewwastopushatrolleypiledwithbeveragesandsnacksthroughtheaisles—whichwerealwayssqueezedwithpassengers—makingitaverydifficulttask.Ontrainswithnoautomaticwaterboilers,theservicecrewhadtocarryakettletoofferhotwatertopassengers.
Evenso,itwasahugeupgradefromthesocalled“green”trains,whichwerepaintedgreen,couldrunataspeedasslowas30kmperhouranddominatedtherailwaysnationwidebeforethe1990s.Theyhadnoairconditioningandwereextremelyhotinsummersincetheywerealwayspackedwithpassengersduetotheirlowprices.Thesmellonthetrainwasusuallyamixtureofbodyodor,instantnoodlesandsmoke,sincetherewerenodesignatedsmokingareas.
Inthe1990s,Chinastartedtointroducemoreair-conditionedtrainswithfasterspeedsandmorecomfortableseats,andthegreentrainsweremostlyphasedout,althoughtheycanstillbeseeninsomepartsofthecountry.
In2007,thetrainthatZhaoworkedwasupgradedtoabullettrain,knownasHexie,orharmony.Itranatamuchfasterspeed,about200kmperhour,wasequippedwithadvancedfacilitiesandwasmuchlesscrowded.
“Everypassengerwasexcitedtobeonthenewtrainandtheyhadmanyquestionsaboutit,”Zhaosaid.“Weneededtobewell-preparedtoanswerquestionsandprovidebetterservice.”
Smartandenjoyable
Intheinitialstage,thehigh-speedtrainsinChinawerebasedonJapanese,GermanandFrenchtechnologies.InJune2017,Chinalauncheditsfirsthigh-speedtrainswithtotallyself-developedtechnologies.Fuxing,orrejuvenation,asthenewtrainiscalled,isexpectedtoreplaceHexieinthefuture.
ZhaonowworksasatrainconductoronaFuxingtrainbetweenBeijingandShanghai.“Thehightechnologygreatlyliftstheservice,”Zhaosaid.Sincelate2011,passengerscanpurchasetrainticketsonline,andbeginninginOctober2017,theycanalsochooseseatsonline.
Inthepast,themealchoiceswerequitelimitedonthetrain.Passengerswhodidn’twanttobuymealsonthetrainwouldcarryinstantnoodlesonboard.Butnowpassengerscanorderfoodonlinefromrestaurantsinandnearrailwaystationsandthecrewhelpstodeliverthesemealstotheirseats.
Inaddition,asmanyhigh-speedtrainshaveonboardWi-Fi,passengerscansurfonlinewiththeirsmartphonesandmakethetripmorecomfortable.
Inhernewposition,Zhaoneedstocheckeverydetailofthetrainwiththetechniciansbeforeeverytriptoensuresafety.Aftercheck-ingeverypart,shescansaQRcodetorecordherfindings.“Inthepast,alltheworkingrecordswerewrittenonathicknotebook,”Zhaosaid.“Nowwehaveanappthatreplacesit.”
Zhaohaskeptallherworkpermitsfromthepast15yearsandthekeyssheusedondifferenttrains.“Thekeysnowaresmallerbuthavemorefunctions,”Zhaosaid.“Highspeedtrainshavedevelopedatastrikingspeedandhavebecomethefirstchoiceformanypassengers.”
ZhaoXiaoqinleadsasafetycheckduringatripbetweenBeijingandShanghaiZHENGLIANG
PartofthestaffitemsZhaoXiaoqinhasusedinher15-yearrailwaycareerZHENGLIANGCopyeditedbyRebecaToledoCommentsto