高铁事故造成39人死亡 铁路官员被免职

在一起动车撞车事故导致至少39人死亡和200多人受伤后，为化解民愤，中国撤免了三位高级铁路官员。政府还停运了58列列车，并要求全国进行紧急安全检查。
China has sacked three senior railway officials in an effort to head off public anger following a high-speed rail crash that left at least 39 people dead and more than 200 injured. The government also halted the operation of 58 trains and called for an emergency nationwide safety check.

中国两辆动车7月23日在浙江省境内相撞，这是中国动车从2007年开始运行以来发生的首起重大致命事故。中国正以创纪录速度建设全球最大高铁网络，政府在高铁建设上投入了巨额资金。
Two Chinese bullet trains collided in the eastern province of Zhejiang on July 23. The fatal collision was the first serious accident involving China's bullet trains, which began running in 2007. China is in the process of building the world's largest high-speed railway network in record time, which has received huge state investment.

原铁道部长刘志军今年2月因“严重违纪”被免职后，中国高速列车受到了密切关注。在刘志军被免职后，由于安全性和票价承受能力方面的担忧，政府宣布将高铁最高运行时速从350公里下调为300公里。
China's bullet trains came under intense scrutiny this year after Liu Zhijun, the railways minister, was dismissed in February for "serious disciplinary violations." Soon after his removal, the government announced it would cut the top speed of its bullet lines to 300km/h from 350km/h (186mph) because of safety and affordability concerns.

上周六发生撞车事故后，上海铁路局局长、党委书记和一位副局长被立刻免职。
The head of the Shanghai railway bureau, the deputy head, and the bureau's Communist party chief were all fired after Saturday's crash.

这起事故的原因是一辆动车受到雷击而断电，被另一辆动车追尾撞上。事故造成6节车厢脱轨（每节车厢可乘坐大约100名乘客），其中至少3节车厢掉下了桥。
The accident occurred when one train lost power after a lightning strike and was hit from behind by another train. Six carriages, each with a capacity of about 100 passengers, were knocked off the tracks, with at least three carriages falling off a bridge.

电视画面显示，在事故发生不到24小时后，几辆重型挖掘机正在桥下掩埋部分损毁车体。发生事故的列车属于第一代动车，最高时速为250公里，低于上月在盛大声势下开通的京沪高铁。
Footage on the television showed heavy diggers burying much of the wreckage at the foot of a bridge less than 24 hours after the accident. The trains in the crash were first-generation bullet trains, with top speeds of 250km/h, and so not as fast as those on a line that opened last month between Beijing and Shanghai to great fanfare.

新华社承认这起事故引起了极大的民愤，并援引来自网上的部分评论，其中有位网民表示：“重新赢得顾客信任将是一个漫长而艰难的过程。”
Xinhua News Agency acknowledged an outpouring of anger over the accident by quoting some of the many comments posted on websites. "It will be a long and tough process to earn customers' trust again," it cited one person as saying.

(China.org.cn July 29, 2011)