Supervision over railway signaling producer

China has set up a work group to supervise the safety overhaul of a railway signaling system producer, which was found to be partly responsible for a disastrous high-speed train crash that killed 40 passengers in July 2011.

The State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council said Thursday in a statement on its website that it had sent a work group to the China Railway Signal and Communication Corp. (CRSC) to supervise the company's work in the quality and safety overhauls of its railway signaling system.

The CRSC was held responsible for the train crash in Wenzhou in the eastern province of Zhejiang, as chaotic management at its research institute led to design flaws and major safety issues, according to a report released in late December by the State Council.

On July 23, a high-speed train rammed into a stalled train near the city of Wenzhou, leaving 40 people dead and 172 injured. A lightning strike caused train D3115 to lose power, and a signaling failure led train D301 to rear-end D3115, according to the report.