One of the youngest subway lines in Seoul’s metropolitan region has some problems, which could become a serious safety issue. Certain parts of the subway rail tracks on the Shinbundang Line (신분당선) broke in around 400 cases until now.
The Shinbundang Line is in service since roughly 18 months but in the worst case the following issue can result in a temporarily suspension of service. The problem is that certain parts of the rail tracks (called tension clamps) broke in multiple cases along the subway line. I’m not an expert in this area, so I don’t know exactly what function they fulfill. As far as I understood, they should fix the rail tracks onto the ground. According to a news article by Joongang Daily, the first case was noticed in April 2012, just six months after the line was opened. The reason is still unclear and investigations are underway.
A similar problem led to a six month halt for a subway line in Delhi However, this was just one of multiple issues of Delhi’s Airport Metro Express. The airport metro is running again but still at a low speed.
Technicians exchanged already 400 broken tension clamps, which usually broke on certain sections of the line: Take a look at this picture to see where the broken tension clamps have been discovered:
Due to a single broken clamp, a subway car won’t derail. The danger lies in multiple (10+) broken clamps at the same spot but inspections are made regularly. So the Shinbundang line will continue normally and when the reason is detected, the officials will react to it and solve the problem.
Sources and Related Links: 400 broken Pieces at Sin Bundang Line | Delhi Airport Metro Express Again Back on Track
Great article – can I correct some grammar points for you? It’s easy to understand but I’d fix a few things here and there!
Thanks for the offer! I’m not a native English speaker and sometimes I end up writing (and editing) my sentences in a very chaotic way :) I’ve corrected it by myself and I hope that I found all the mistakes. You don’t have to use your time to correct it. The content matters :)
cool. keep up the good work
From an academic writing point of view, try changing one particular sentence around: ‘A single car won’t derail due to one clamp.’ ‘Due to’ usually starts the second clause when describing a conditional situation. If not conditional, use it at the start – ‘Due to my sickness, I can’t come to work today.’ ;) ;)