Heavy smokers have no choice but to control their craving for cigarettes when riding China Railway High-speed (CRH) trains, or else face the possibility of never riding a CRH train again.
According to China Railway Corp., passengers who are found and punished by police for smoking on trains will be banned for life from buying CRH tickets unless they sign a pledge to never smoke again on the train. A second infraction after signing the pledge is grounds for a lifetime ban.
On Sept. 22, the smoke detector in Carriage 9 of train D353 from Shanghai to Chongqing began to sound, prompting the driver to stop the train. Police officers and mechanics performed an inspection and found a man smoking in the toilet.
The man, surnamed Li, said he could not control his cravings, so he hid in the toilet to light a cigarette, which triggered the detector. In accordance with railway safety rules, Li was given a fine.
The police later reminded passengers that cigarette smoking is banned on CRH trains as an important safety precaution.
