Recently, there have been a number of jumping incidents at Beijing
Subway Stations, halting trains and inconveniencing many travelers.
On
August 16, Li Yaozong, vice-general manager of Beijing Subway
Company told Beijing Youth Daily that since jumping
purposely on the rails at subway stations is both against social
values and interferes with public order, there should be some
specific regulations to punish the jumpers. He called for the early
passage of legislation by Beijing Municipal People's Congress,
following the example of Shanghai and Guangzhou, to place legal
responsibility on any jumpers and safeguard the rights of subway
passengers.
Eighty percent among all the jumping incidents this year have been
for the purpose of committing suicide, according to Zhan Minghui,
general-dispatcher of the Beijing Subway Company. Although most
people survived after medical treatment, their behavior each time
forced closure of the subway line. For instance, a woman passenger
was injured after she jumped onto the rail this June, causing a
32-minute hold-up that delayed 19 trains and led to nine services
being cancelled. The schedule did not return to normal throughout
the morning and over 600,000 passengers were delayed.
Zhan also pointed out that it is very hard for subway workers to
prevent such kind of accidents because currently the passenger flow
at Beijing subway stations reaches over 1,300,000 person-times per
day and those seeking to commit suicide do not normally show any
sign of their intentions in advance. "After these accidents
happened, a large number of passengers were delayed, and they
gathered on the platform asking for tickets-refund and
compensation. Our subway workers had to explain very patiently to
them the situation. Besides, the sudden braking of the train often
leads to passengers being injured and luggage being damaged, and
the costs fall on our company," added Zhan.
There are glass walls to prevent passengers from falling into the
track abroad, said Li Yaozong. However Beijing subway stations do
not have such facilities because the lines were built quite early.
Besides it is not realistic to build such a system right now, as it
involves other work, such as rebuilding platforms, altering the
signals system and adapting trains; what's more, all the subway
stations would have to be closed for the work to be done. "Maybe we
will consider adopting such devices when we build new lines next
time," he added.
In
Li's opinion, the biggest problem now is lack of legislation. Both
Shanghai and Guangzhou have special regulations for subways, while
in Taipei and Singapore those who jump on trails and interfere with
public order are punished severely if they survive. "For example, a
man in Singapore jumped onto the rail, causing the sudden braking
of a train that led to three passengers being injured. Therefore,
he was sentenced to half a year in prison, plus a large fine," said
Li.
Zhu Gongwei, a lawyer of Zhongzhao Law Firm, thought that society
should not have to pay the price for an individual's emotional
behavior. Therefore, suicides should bear the relevant
responsibility whether in terms of morality or in terms of law.
However, Beijing does not have any regulations in this area. Only
the Security Administration Punishment Act mentions that those who
interfere with public traffic modes, such as public bus, trolleybus
and trains face 15 days in jail and a fine. So, he agreed that it
was very necessary to create a specific subway law in Beijing as
soon as possible.
(
china.org.cn by Zheng Guihong, August 22, 2002)